Chamber and committees

Good morning, minister.

The Feeley review focused on adult social care. Where did the idea come from of bringing wider social work functions into the national care service?

I appreciate that the Government consultation mentioned that; however, it is quite clear from speaking to social workers and others who are involved in the sector that they feel that there has not been a full and proper consultation. Why was a full consultation not carried out with social workers, people who have lived experience and others before the bill was brought before the Parliament? Do you not think that there is a need for a full consultation to be carried out before the Parliament considers the issue?

Given that the Government has a parliamentary majority in the Parliament, will the bill be passed, if the Government parties vote it through, before decisions have been made about whether the national care service will include social work?

So there would not be scrutiny of that decision by the Parliament.

Do you accept that, if it were decided to bring social work into the national care service, that would lead to a significant increase in tendering? That seems to be what you are saying.

I will be brief.

Minister, I note that you said that you will write to the committee about what you call “ethical procurement”. However, do you not accept that commissioning is tendering, which leads to outsourcing and privatisation?

I understood that that is what the minister said—he said that delegated legislation would come to the Parliament. I presume that that means that it would come to this committee. Regardless of whether it is this committee or another committee that considers it, there will be delegated legislation.

I had not planned to ask about this. I am pursuing the point because of what the minister said. It might be something that we can pursue at a later date.

The general secretary of the Communication Workers Union has written to the First Minister to seek urgent talks about the future of postal services, as part of a bid to end the on-going dispute with Royal Mail. Will the First Minister meet the Communication Workers Union and give consideration to what steps she can take to defend postal services?

It is a pleasure to congratulate Pam Duncan-Glancy on securing the debate and to thank her for all the work that she does on the issue. It is also a pleasure to speak in the debate as a member and former employee of Unison. I worked as a lawyer for Unison for several years and therefore I am very aware of the work that Unison does to promote and fight for the improvement of the rights of its disabled members. Unison is quite an unusual union in that it was created in the 1990s, which means that equalities have always been at the heart of its work and are seen as a core part of the culture of the union.

I congratulate Unison on making 2022 the year of disabled workers and on using the year to highlight the experience of its 200,000 disabled members. As Emma Roddick said, one of the aims of the year of disabled workers is to raise awareness of the social model of disability and for that model to be used rather than the traditional medical model of disability. Another aim is to raise the importance of the changes that are necessary in workplace and working practices to enable disabled people to work. We know that it is more difficult for disabled people to get employment and that, as the motion says, there is a considerable disability pay gap, with disabled people earning less than others. As Paul O’Kane said, the situation is worse in Scotland. As a Parliament, we need to focus on that.

Paul O’Kane also spoke about barriers that disabled people face in getting access to education. It is more difficult for them to obtain good employment if they do not have the right qualifications and skills. There remains a considerable amount of discrimination against disabled people in our society, particularly in the workplace. More support is needed to ensure that reasonable adjustments are made.

In yesterday’s debate on free rail travel for blind and partially sighted people and companions, members highlighted the importance of public transport in enabling people to get to work and accessing employment and other social connections. That debate was specifically about the 180,000 people living with sight loss in Scotland, but the accessibility of public transport for many disabled people is a key factor in the ability to get to work.

We need to listen to what disabled people—those who have been able to obtain work and those who have not—say about their experiences, so that we can ensure that we take every action necessary to support and enable as many disabled people as possible. We need to include the trade unions in that work on our policy and practice. Organisations such as Unison represent in the region of 200,000 disabled workers, and the other unions also work with their disabled members.

We have heard clearly that Scotland has much to do to rise to the challenge. I look forward to hearing from the minister about the actions that the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that the situation improves.