Question reference: S6W-04992
- Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 December 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 14 January 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported discussions involving other devolved administrations regarding the Down Syndrome Bill, introduced in the UK Parliament, what its position is on whether the provisions in the bill should be applied in Scotland; what discussions it (a) has had and (b) plans to have on this matter, and with whom, and what its position is on the Bill being amended to include Scotland in the territorial extent, in order to place a duty on local authorities in Scotland to assess the likely social care needs of people with Down Syndrome and plan provision accordingly.
Answer
The Scottish Government wants to improve opportunities, outcomes and support for people with Down’s Syndrome. To this end, we have committed to introducing a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This Bill will ensure that the rights of people with Down’s Syndrome, among others, are respected and protected. To help make sure the new legislation is championed when it is implemented we will create a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner through the new law.
The Scottish Government position is that we take a wider view of Down’s Syndrome within the rights of people with all learning disabilities.
Rather than duplicate the Down Syndrome Bill, we will continue with our commitment to introduce a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This will ensure that the Bill meets the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome in the Scottish context.
Scottish Legislation already exists that requires Scottish public bodies meet the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome. The Additional Support for Learning Act (Scotland) 2004 (as amended) places duties upon education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 places duties upon Local Authorities and the NHS to provide services in a way which takes account of the particular needs of different service-users, and also takes account of the particular characteristics and circumstances of different service-users.
We continue to liaise regularly with our stakeholders around policy developments, and this includes the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities, People First and Down’s Syndrome Scotland.
The Scottish Government aims to carry out scoping work on the remit and powers of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner in this Parliamentary year. This year we will begin an engagement exercise explore the Commissioner role, how it will be developed and what it will be responsible for. We will engage with all learning disability and autism stakeholders across the public and third sector, this includes Government officials across the 4 UK Nations and those with lived experience, who will be at the centre of the work.