Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to making its information available to all, including disabled people. We take our duties under the Disability Discrimination Act seriously, and expect other organisations to do so too.

Both the Scottish Government website (www.scotland.gov.uk) and Intranet (Saltire) aim to ensure all content meets a minimum web accessibility initiative AA rating. All official publications are made available online in both html and pdf format. In addition www.scotland.gov.uk uses Dexerit text to speech software for official publications and news releases.

We will supply Scottish Government published documents in alternative formats where appropriate or on request to increase public accessibility. These will include other languages, audio, Braille and large type formats and will include availability in electronic as well as printed formats.

We currently have no plans to review this provision.

There are no targets for self-directed support. The National Performance Framework describes the national outcomes, targets and indicators agreed with COSLA.

There is a range of both institutional and individual financial support packages available to students studying within Scotland depending on whether the student is on a further or higher education course.

Colleges receive block grants for teaching which are not split into funding for specific courses or assistance. In 2008-09, the main teaching allocation totalled £392 million. In addition to funding for teaching the courses, colleges receive funds to support their students. This includes a bursary allocation which can be used to meet the additional support needs of students to assist them accessing and participating in college. This part of the bursary allowance is called the Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance and is not subject to a means test. These funds can be used by the student (or on the student''s behalf) to fund a personal learning assistant or to pay for assistive technology. In 2008-09, the bursary allocation totalled £58 million.

The Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) is an non income assessed allowance intended to cover the extra costs or expenses a student may have while undertaking a higher education course which arises because of their disability. In 2007-08, 3,625 students were in receipt of DSA payments totalling £8.1 million. This is an increase of 7.1% in terms of numbers and 6.7% in terms of amounts paid out since 2006-07. As part of the DSA, students can receive support from a non-medical personal helper (NMPH), for example a dyslexia specialist support worker. From academic year, 2008-09, eligible students that require the assistance of a NMPH will benefit from an increased allowance of up to £20,000.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to the personalisation agenda, including the most radical aspect of personalisation, self-directed support.

Personalisation of services has been a component of public sector reform and is a key aspiration of the Changing Lives review of social work services. Personalisation is a theme that features in all the work being done by the five change programmes and the products to be produced by those groups over the next six months or so. This includes a supported self-evaluation guide being developed with SWIA and local authorities as well as a training toolkit being developed to support the notion of citizen leadership described by the Changing Lives User and Carer Forum.

In terms of self-directed support, a reference group is currently considering a draft strategy to radically increase the uptake of self-directed support in Scotland. A key part of this strategy will be running test sites in three local authorities to consider how well specific interventions improve uptake. This work builds on research conducted in June 2008 which demonstrated the flexibility, choice, control and independence that self-directed support is able to offer individuals. The Scottish Government will consider further guidance, explicit target setting or legislation if they prove necessary in the longer term.

Local authorities'' funding has already been agreed as part of the concordat. Following agreement with COSLA, the Scottish Government will also be funding three test sites to consider how to improve the uptake of self-directed support by building on existing local authority infrastructure.

The Scottish Government currently collects annual statistics from Scottish local authorities on the number of people in receipt of direct payments. The term direct payments is largely historical and focused on a system of delivery of social care rather than outcomes for individuals.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and health care needs in Scotland. The CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland. The CSO does not therefore have any specific plans for further investment in research on these conditions but would welcome research proposals in these areas which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) within the Scottish Government Health Directorates has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research into health and healthcare needs in Scotland. CSO primarily responds to requests for funding research proposals initiated by the research community in Scotland. CSO does not therefore, have any specific plans for further investment in research into learning difficulties but would welcome research proposals into this area which would be subject to the usual peer and committee review.

The Scottish Government is committed to securing equal access to justice for disabled people. Through the multi-agency Justice Disability Steering Group we are working with key partners to ensure more effective engagement with disabled people. As part of this work the group is planning an event to be held next year that will involve disabled people in identifying how to improve the operation of the justice system in ways that promote better access and tackle discrimination.

We are supporting the Scottish Appropriate Adults Network in raising awareness and promoting consistency in the delivery of the Appropriate Adult Scheme across the country to better meet the needs of disabled people. We will also continue to facilitate the work of the multi-agency Witness Issues Group in monitoring, reporting and evaluating the impact of the Vulnerable Witness (Scotland) Act 2004 especially with regard to providing improved opportunities for all vulnerable witnesses, including disabled people, to give their best evidence.

Colleges receive block grants for teaching which are not split into funding for specific courses or assistance. For that block grant they are expected to deliver a set level of activity which is weighted to reflect the resource input required. Courses which are specifically designed for students with additional needs have the highest out of 18 weightings. In addition to this, activity for students who are not on a specialised course but who have additional support needs is also weighted to reflect the additional resource input. In 2008-09, the main teaching allocation totalled £392 million.

It is a condition of grant that any colleges claiming the additional weights that are allocated from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) must complete a Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP). This is checked and reported on through the SFC''s audit process. The auditor also signs off the final claims for activity. The allocation of student support funds must meet the conditions of the SFC bursary policy and the use of the funds is audited.