Chamber and committees

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which is reserved to Westminster, protects disabled people from discrimination in employment, access to goods, facilities and services, the buying, renting or selling of land or property, education and the exercise of public functions.

All public bodies, with a small number of exceptions, have responsibility for implementing the act.

None. The funding has been provided to enable the Crofters Commission (CC) and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) to provide support for crofting townships and rural community bodies rather than individual applicants for assistance under the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

CC and SCVO project officers will be working independently of the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (SGRPID) to help community bodies work up proposals for investment in their communities. Such proposals may then be submitted to the relevant funding bodies “ including Scottish Government and LEADER Local Action Groups - for support.

Scotland Week provides a significant opportunity to highlight Scotland as a dynamic market with great investment potential. The Scottish Government''s international framework is due to be published later this month and will highlight the potential for a more co-ordinated approach to trade and cultural missions. In the meantime, it is important to capitalise on the very significant opportunities that exist in North America by encouraging major US and Canadian companies to look to Scotland as their global partner of choice, and by supporting Scottish-based companies wishing to grow their business in North America.

As part of the Scottish Government''s commitment to increased sustainable economic growth, the First Minister, the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, and I took every opportunity during Scotland Week to engage with businesses in nine locations across North America, promoting the investment and business opportunities that exist in Scotland. During the most ambitious programme of events ever undertaken by Scottish ministers, the First Minister, Mr Mather and I in private meetings, at receptions, in speeches and through the media, sought to engage with potential new investors, with existing investors in Scotland, and with Scottish companies already trading in the US and Canada. We estimate that over 50 private sector companies with commitments in North America were active during Scotland Week and ministers met with many more.

In addition to their interactions with major Scottish companies like the Wood Group, HBoS, RBS America, and Standard Life, ministers supported a diverse range of smaller Scottish businesses. The First Minister met three Scottish companies, SI Associates (management consultants), ClinTec (life sciences) and Visionware (IT), who have signed up to take advantage of Scottish Development International''s incubator facilities in Boston and he congratulated two Scottish software companies, Integrated Environmental Solutions and Vamosa, who are now ready to graduate from the incubator and will be opening offices in Boston. The First Minister and I also met at the Inter-American Development Bank members of a 21 strong Scottish education and trade mission visiting Washington to explore trade opportunities.

We have made clear that the pace and scale of changes which will be needed to meet our commitment to reducing P1 to P3 class sizes is subject to further discussion with COSLA. As was the case with previous class size changes, the full implications for physical accommodation will only become clearer as these discussions progress and as individual local authorities assess the situation at each school at which accommodation may be a factor.

We allocated £40 million extra in the last financial year for capital expenditure linked to class size reduction. Under the terms of the Concordat signed with COSLA on 14 November 2007, almost £3 billion of capital resources has been made available to authorities over three years including an extra £115 million in this, the first year, to secure investment in schools and other infrastructure.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11087 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11087 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11087 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), it is the responsibility of all NHS boards to support their staff to identify, understand and remove the barriers facing disabled people when they use NHS services. In recognition of the relationship between the Executive''s strategic role and NHS boards'' role in the delivery of services, significant work has been done centrally to support boards and ensure they meet their DDA requirements.

The NHS (Scotland) Reform Act 2004 created a specific duty on NHS boards to promote equality and this commitment to promoting equality and tackling disability discrimination has been reaffirmed explicitly in the Better Health Better Care action plan.

Good practice guidance aimed at supporting NHS boards to understand and meet their responsibilities under Part 3 of the DDA and developed by the  Fair for All “ Disability team is available at:

http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/4683-Achieving%20Fair%20Access%20guidance.pdf.

Fair for All - Disability have undertaken a review of progress of work to achieve disability equality by all boards, based on Disability Equality Schemes published by each board and have made recommendations for progress as well as sharing good practice. The advice and support previously provided by the Fair for All - Disability team is now provided through an integrated Equalities and Planning Directorate established within NHS Health Scotland.

Improved outcomes for disabled people as a result of these actions will be measured by: the Scottish Health Council''s annual assessment of the patient focus public involvement responsibilities of boards; a national programme of patient experience surveys, disaggregated by disability and, monitoring NHS boards revised Disability Equality Schemes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11087 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11087 on 16 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.