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7 LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Introduction

7.1 This section addresses the work of the thirty-two local authorities in Scotland to promote equality between disabled and non-disabled people. It considers specifically work to implement disability equality in the following areas: access; elections and polling; employers' duties; environmental services; harassment; information gathering/analysis; leadership and communication; leisure; poverty; procurement; regeneration and economic development; strategic planning; and training. Work undertaken by local authorities in the fields of education, transport, housing, sport, health and social care are considered in detail in the relevant Ministerial Portfolio reports.

7.2 Recent policy and legislation, informed by the modernisation agenda, has impacted on the delivery of public services in Scotland. For example, the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003 placed a statutory duty on local government to facilitate community planning. The principles of best value and efficient government impact on many aspects of service delivery, including procurement.

7.3 Of great importance has been the development of new working arrangements between the Scottish Government and local government. This new relationship, based on mutual respect and partnership, is generally referred to as the Concordat (The Scottish Government, 2007d). The Concordat between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA) reflects the Scottish Government's recognition of the unique position held by local government in the governance of Scotland as well as the key role of local government in working in partnership with national government to deliver strategic government objectives.

7.4 Several relevant components of the Concordat include the establishment of Single Outcome Agreements ( SOA) with every local authority. These SOAs outline steps that each local authority will take to assist the Scottish Government in delivering agreed national outcomes. Both national and local government have agreed to adopt an outcomes based approach to enable more transparent monitoring and reporting. The Scottish Government has also undertaken to improve efficiency by reducing the bureaucratic burden on local authorities, for example, by streamlining inspection requirements. There will also be a reduction of a number of separate funding streams, as well as enabling local government to retain efficiency savings. There are forty-five national outcomes and targets, many of which afford local authorities the opportunity to mainstream disability issues within those areas, such as improving the quality of public services, increasing the proportion of school leavers in positive and sustained destinations (further and higher education, employment or training), decreasing the proportion of individuals living in poverty and improving people's perceptions, attitudes and awareness of Scotland's reputation to name a few.

Wider policy context

7.5 Local authority approaches to equality for disabled people have been shaped by a range of policies and legal changes relating to equalities, social justice and inclusion. These include the establishment and development of access panels, the Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy, the requirements of the race, disability and gender public sector duties, the promotion of social inclusion and the statutory duty of best value and community planning introduced by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003.

7.6 The Scottish Executive's Equality Strategy (2000) outlined plans to ensure the prevention and elimination of discrimination. One of its key elements is mainstreaming, a process whereby equality considerations are integrated into all the functions and policies of Scottish Government. The six equality strands, age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, and sexual orientation, are being addressed at national and local government level.

7.7 The focus and emphasis of this mainstreaming work has been enhanced as a result of the public sector duties on race, disability and gender which require the impact assessment of all policies to ensure that they do not create negative impacts for equality groups. Local authority impact assessment processes have been established in relation to race equality and additional or amended processes have now been developed to address other equality strands, particularly gender and disability.

7.8 Interlinked with policies on equality have been those relating to social justice. The Scottish Executive's Community Regeneration Statement 2002 (Scottish Executive, 2002b) makes a commitment to hold agencies, including local government, 'increasingly responsible for the quality of their services to disadvantaged areas and to excluded groups, for example, black people and those from ethnic minorities, vulnerable, elderly people and those with disabilities'. This increasing responsibility can be seen in the duty on local government to ensure best value, which requires 'continuous improvement in local authority services, having regard to value for money and taking account of equalities and sustainability' (Audit Scotland, 2007a).

7.9 The Scottish Executive's Community Regeneration Statement also suggests that community planning partnerships may be used to promote disability equality. However, although the community planning process is intended to promote equal opportunities (Scottish Council Foundation, 2004), there are no specific provisions covering planning for disabled people, and MacDonald et al. (2008) suggest that further work needs to be done to ensure that community planning is indeed promoting equality. Access panels have also been commented upon in the third sector focus area of this report (see 2d).

7.10 In preparation for the implementation of the disability equality duty, the Office for Public Management developed, on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission, a document entitled Beyond Good Intentions: A resource for local authorities implementing the Disability Equality Duty (Office for Public Management, 2006). This document was written to assist local authorities in producing their own disability equality schemes and action plans in December 2006. It offers practical guidance and pointers for decision makers at elected member and director/senior management level, and senior managers responsible for corporate policy, social inclusion and equalities. Emphasising the need to understand personal, organisational and societal blocks to achieving equality, the document urges every local authority not just to produce another 'strategy', since good intentions that sit on the shelf and are never implemented. Rather, it stresses the importance of schemes and action plans that are realistic and manageable.

7.11 A key policy area that has impacted on many public bodies within this portfolio, not least, local authorities has been the government's over-aching programme of public services reform, with the aim of driving up quality, encouraging innovation and ensuring services are user focussed and personalised. Such an approach chimes very well with the key tenets of the disability equality duty. The move to reform and simplify public services is built on three key programme delivery routes and these are:

• Best Value
• Efficient Government
• Community Planning

7.12 Best value aims to provide for continuous improvement in the performance of public service organizations, including local government. Equal opportunities is one of the ten key principles guiding the best value framework.

7.13 The document Building a Better Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2004a) aimed to develop an efficiency programme to help tackle waste, bureaucracy and duplication in Scotland's public sector as well as improving productivity (The Scottish Government, 2008a). As part of this, there has been an independent review (Crerar Review) of regulation, audit, inspection and complaints handling of public services in Scotland (The Scottish Government, 2007c); the development of a new performance framework (the Concordat) between national government and local government (The Scottish Government, 2007d) as well as efficiencies in other areas such as the review of public procurement (the McLelland Report) which explores areas like collaborative purchasing of services (Scottish Executive, 2006j). As part of improving public procurement services, the Scottish Government Procurement Directorate issued a policy note ( SPPN 6/2007) to purchasers on social issues in public procurement which includes consideration of all equalities issues, including disability equality (The Scottish Government 2007e). As part of the Government's commitment to disability equality, work is ongoing with industry representative bodies to maximise opportunities for participation in competitive tendering exercises to companies which fulfil the definition of a supported business. The definition of a supported business is one where more than 50% of the workers are disabled persons who by reason of the nature or severity of their disability are unable to take up work in the open labour market .

7.14 Community planning was a given a statutory basis by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003, which placed a duty on local authorities to initiate, facilitate and maintain community planning. Core partners for local authorities included the enterprise networks, the National Health Service, police and fire services and regional transport partnerships. Community planning is a process which helps public agencies to work together with the community to plan and deliver for better service in order to make a real difference in people's lives. The Scottish Government has produced guidance as well as a series of advice notes providing good practice examples in a range of areas such as partnership models, involving the private sector, effective community engagement, performance monitoring and so forth. In all ten advice notes have been produced. ¹

Research and statistical evidence

7.15 This section covers a wide range of research topics. For ease of reading, there are four areas covered:

• Access to local authority premises and services
• Access to public life
• Best Value

Access to local authority premises and services

7.16 The single Audit Scotland performance indicator related to disability is public access, that is, the percentage of public service buildings that are suitable and accessible to disabled people. The data collected (see Table 6 below) shows a positive trend with more local authority buildings becoming accessible to disabled service users over the period 2004-2007. Audit Scotland's Statutory Performance Indicator ( SPI)193, shows that in 2005/06, local authorities assessed just over 43% of their service buildings as meeting the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, compared to 37% in the previous year. (Audit Scotland, 2007). It does not, however, measure accessibility of services which may be provided by alternative means such as through the internet or via other electronic means. Neither does it measure accessibility of buildings for employees.

Table 6: Public access - percentage of public service buildings that are suitable and accessible to disabled people

adapted from Audit Scotland figures and trends 2004-2007, p20 http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/performance/docs/2007/service/profCorpM07.pdf

7.17 Audit Scotland (Audit Scotland 2007b) makes a number of points in relation to Table 6. Firstly, local authorities are expected to continuously assess service accessibility in their buildings and make appropriate adaptations or alternative service delivery arrangements. Some local authorities may have a higher proportion of buildings that are subject to planning or physical restrictions as to what adaptations are possible. Therefore, local authorities may also have in place other strategies, including the use of electronic service delivery (e-services), to provide access to services for those who require them in their home or at other locations. There may also be some variation in the way local authorities assess the accessibility of their buildings, but they need to be able to demonstrate that their practices comply with the requirements of the Act.

7.18 Secondly, some data are classed as unreliable as it is unclear whether consistent criteria were being used in the assessment of buildings and there may be difficulties in making comparisons. This has already been discussed in paragraphs 6.7 - 6.9. In some cases, data are unreliable as not all properties were included in the initial assessment. An underlined performance indicator measurement indicates unreliable data.

7.19 What can be said is that at least 20 local authorities have shown a greater than 15% improvement in accessibility, 3 local authorities a 10-14% improvement and one council a 5-9% improvement in their premises.

7.20 Local authority schemes and action plans contain a variety of initiatives to increase access to services and information through websites, however the effect of such initiatives is not known. Data from the Scottish Household Survey 2005 discussed in the Digital Inclusion Strategy (Scottish Executive, 2006h) show younger disabled people and those with a higher income are more likely to access the internet. However for all age and income groups disabled people are significantly less likely to use the internet than their non-disabled counterparts. The Digital Inclusion Strategy 2006 outlines government intentions to "highlight the need for service providers to do more to support specific needs groups who require assistive technology and support to become digitally included, utilising the expertise of SUfI [Scottish University for Industry] and other key partners, in this area to deliver a guide to available products and services".

7.21 The Scottish Consumer Council in their report Freedom of Access (Scottish Consumer Council, 2005:13) reported that only nine authorities were able to report disabled access in all locations at which they provided public Internet access. A further five offered access at two-thirds of locations, four between one and two-thirds and two authorities had disabled access in less than one in three locations. This report however did report on several examples of good practice where authorities had provided specialist equipment to enable access such as screen reader facilities, specialist trackball/mouse, large keyboards, magnification software, Cicero (text reader package) and so forth. However, the report remained concerned that despite the availability of new technology, full access was still limited.

7.22 The report Disability Equality and Scottish Local Authorities: Access to Services (Ennis, 2005) examines how local authorities were taking steps towards providing access to services for the disabled community. Overall the research concluded that Scottish local authorities had been slow in developing policy and procedures to meet their obligations as specified in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The following reasons were identified:

• Corporate policies intended to advance the cause of disability had in many cases not been set up until after 2000.
• The identification of training needs at a service level in many cases was inadequate. Though a number of local authorities had addressed the issue at corporate level, most lacked a training framework that would identify needs at a service level. The absence of training for departmental managers meant that local authorities lacked a key component of an effective training framework. The lack of an inter-departmental working-group to reinforce corporate-service links was a contributing factor.
• Access to premises involved carrying out access audits and making necessary adjustments to buildings. While the majority of local authorities had carried out some or all of these audits, the lack of a secure financial commitment meant that the necessary work was not secured in an orderly, structured fashion

7.23 There is limited performance information from local authorities to assess progress on equality matters. Audit Scotland (2007a) suggests most local authorities need to do more to ensure that they can clearly measure achievements against equal opportunity objectives. Best value audits indicate that local authorities are making policy commitments to equalities but there is limited evidence of these translating into improved outcomes for service users. Where there is activity, this often involves isolated events rather than systematic implementation in the day-to-day running of the local authority and its services.

Access to public life

7.24 Capability Scotland has carried out a series of studies for the Electoral Commission. Significant improvements to physical access and developments to address wider access were reported in 2003. Key findings from their most recent report (Capability Scotland 2007) were:

• a general improvement in the accessibility of the voting process for disabled people, although this trend is not consistent across all areas;
• a significant minority (24%) of respondents found voting in 2007 to be harder than it was in 2005, highlighting problems with the design of the ballot paper and the single transferable vote process; and
• people with learning disabilities are significantly less likely to find polling station staff to be friendly and helpful than disabled voters generally. This raises questions about how people with learning disabilities are being received and treated as they turn up to vote.

7.25 Disabled people hold fewer public appointments than others in the community or wider society. Between June 2002 and June 2005, the proportion of people in public appointments who were disabled rose from 1.8 per cent to 2.5 per cent, (Scottish Council Foundation, 2004 )

7.26 The Scottish Government National Survey of Local Government Candidates (Scottish Government, 2007b) reported that around 25% of unsuccessful candidates and 18% of councilors have a disability or long-term health issue. These figures are considerably lower than the 41.5% of the population who are affected by long-term illness, health problem or disability. The proportions of unsuccessful candidates, councilors and the general population suffering from non-limiting long-term illness, health problem or disability are broadly similar (11%, 12% and 15% respectively). The key differences are in the proportions suffering limiting illnesses or disabilities (14%, 6% and 27% respectively). Researchers note that a more detailed exploration of issues around and potential barriers to participation in local government for those with long term illness and/or disability was not possible within the scope of this survey but would be beneficial.

Best value

7.31 Best value employs ten major criteria, one of which is equal opportunities arrangements. Local authorities are expected to self-assess their performance against all ten criteria. Since the onset of the Disability Equality Duty on 4 ^th December 2006, Audit Scotland has published fifteen local authority audits on best value and community planning. Some examples of progress in relation to disabled people include:

• transforming a traditional service into an inclusive personalized service for people with learning disabilities (Perth and Kinross Council)
• Improving partnership working with key partners such as the NHS to ensure improvement in services for people with learning disabilities (Orkney Islands Council, Borders Council)
• improving the local authority community engagement and communications strategy to ensure greater inclusion of a diversity disabled people (Midlothian Council, Falkirk Council)
• ensuring disabled people's views are represented on citizen's panels (Midlothian Council)
• production of guides to assist local authority employees understand different kinds of disability and also provision of disability equality awareness training (Aberdeen Council, East Lothian Council)
• maximizing consultation and involvement with access panels (North Lanarkshire Council)
• ensuring local authority websites are continuously improved to ensure the site is inclusive and disability friendly (Falkirk Council)

7.32 However, three audits did not record anything related to disability or equality issues and some audits which made reference to disability issues did so in relation to having a disability equality scheme in place.

Reporting on progress towards equality of opportunity

7.33 Local authorities have been in the process of modernising and improvement in the past few years. The onset of the disability equality duty in December 2006 signalled another standard to add to the overall public services reform framework. This section draws from local authorities' disability equality schemes, action plans and annual reports of local authorities and signposts some areas of progress as well as areas where progress is less evident. While it would be difficult to say with absolute certainty that all improvements on disability grounds was as a result of the disability equality duty, there is no doubt that in the process of change, local authorities have utilised the duty as a positive driver for further change.

Areas where progress is evident

7.34 Progress was found to be evident in relation to:

• Communication, Mainstreaming and Impact Assessments
• Employment
• Training
• Access
• Environmental services
• Best Value
• Procurement
• Community Planning
• Elections and polling

Communication, mainstreaming and impact assessments

7.35 The majority of local authorities recognised implementation of the disability equality duty as a positive driver for change. Almost all reported actions to communicate and promote the most significant developments arising from the disability equality duty to employees, service users and other organisations, for example, through developing and improving equalities and diversity web pages and local access guides and by influencing the agendas of community planning partnerships.

7.36 The majority of schemes emphasised the local authority's policy making, monitoring and reporting functions as key to effecting progress towards disability equality. Some local authorities have a long history of promoting disability equality. Many local authorities had previously taken some action to promote disability equality in some aspects of their work (for example Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and South Lanarkshire,). This has predominantly been in areas of direct service delivery and to a lesser extent the employment of disabled people. It is clear that clearer policy making, monitoring and reporting on disability issues have developed as a result of the new duties. Local authorities are doing more work to promote disability equality throughout their functions, particularly in the area of shaping and accessing services. As major employers and service providers, local authorities are also contributing to public awareness of disability and the rights of disabled people, initially through disability awareness training of in-house staff but also in providing support to external agencies that work in partnership with them.

7.37 Equality impact assessment processes are the means by which local authorities intend to mainstream disability equality throughout policy and practice. Most local authorities were fairly near the beginning of such mainstreaming and as a result assessment processes were at an early stage. Twenty five local authorities were implementing multi-equality impact assessment processes while seven (Clackmannanshire, Glasgow, Highland, Midlothian, Moray, Perth and Kinross and Stirling) were using an impact assessment tool specific to disability. One local authority (Glasgow) is in the process of evaluating the comparative benefits of single and multi-strand approaches. Two thirds of the local authorities were fairly near the beginning of their impact assessment process, either prioritising policies and functions for review, or beginning to impact assess new/high priority functions and policies. Around one third of local authorities had made further progress, with their process established and a large number of assessments underway or complete. Few local authority reports indicate long-established systems. Two local authorities are at the point of refining and revising their impact assessment processes (Dundee, Glasgow) but do not provide further details of what areas are being refined and revised.

7.38 While progress is evident in the development of impact assessment processes it is also apparent that these are resource intensive. Several local authorities (including, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Comhairle, Highland and South Ayrshire) report delays in implementation because of the time and resources that are required to train staff. One local authority reported the involvement of a consultant to help ensure quality within its impact assessment processes (North Ayrshire).

Employment

7.39 Almost all schemes recognise the local authority's duties as employers and potential employers of disabled people. Many local authorities report actions to ensure disabled people are supported in their working environment through practical measures relating to aids and adaptations, priority IT support, systems for home working and the promotion of mental health. A few schemes include specific actions relating to staff development and one (South Lanarkshire) includes "promotion of equality of opportunity" as one of its core competencies for all employees; using its review and development systems and an excellence award scheme to reinforce this positive approach. Another (Dundee) carried out a confidential survey of local authority employees, to collect a wider range of views on positive and negative experiences of the local authority as an employer. Almost 7% of respondents to the survey declared they had a disability, and differences in satisfaction levels were found to be insignificant amongst disabled and non-disabled employees. The survey also indicated a high level of awareness of equality issues with 86.2% of all employees agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement "I am aware of the Council's approach to disability equality and our Disability Equality Scheme".

7.40 Two thirds of local authorities detail their continued double tick accreditation by Jobcentre Plus as indication of their continued commitment to increasing applications for local authority vacancies from disabled people. Several local authorities take further measures to increase their recruitment and retention of disabled people. One local authority (Dundee) is raising awareness of 'flexible working' arrangements for employees, and monitoring uptake of flexible working by disabled employees to assess its impact on employment opportunities for disabled people within local authority departments. Another (Stirling) has increased its applications from disabled applicants by 22% in one year. This local authority works with a partner agency to seek and interview disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for posts for G1 and basic manual worker posts prior to open advertising.

Training

7.41 Almost all local authorities report actions to improve and increase training

of employees. The majority of training reported fell into five broad categories;

• diversity/equality awareness, in two thirds of plans
• disability awareness, in two thirds of plans
• employment duties imposed by the Disability Discrimination Act, in around half of plans;
• service provision duties imposed by the Disability Discrimination Act, in around half of plans;
• impact assessment training, in one third of plans;

Other specific training was also reported. This addressed a wide variety of issues for example; mental health, learning disability, British Sign Language, plain English, deaf awareness and the use of IT.

7.42 Most training appears to be through one off events. Several local authorities are also using e-learning modules to deliver disability awareness training to a large number of staff. Half the local authorities place some emphasis on training frontline staff and integrating disability awareness into induction schemes.

7.43 Half the local authorities also report training elected representatives. A few (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Shetland) train volunteers and partner organisations. A few reports indicate that training has been delivered by or with contributions from disabled people themselves. One notable example (South Ayrshire) involved members of the access board in the training of local taxi drivers.

7.44 Some local authorities (for example East Lothian and Glasgow) report numbers attending courses or completing online modules. Many however, do not report this. Very few tangible outcomes of training such as changes in procedures or policies are reported. From the review of schemes and annual reports local authorities did not report systematically on participant or service evaluations of training. However, a few have, or plan to, revise/update their training though no further details are provided as to what such revision or update would be covering.

Access

7.45 Actions to improve access were reported by every local authority. These reports indicate that progress has been made. However in the majority of cases lack of clear targets/ measured outcomes makes it difficult to quantify this progress.

7.46 Almost every local authority planned to improve the physical accessibility of its buildings. Annual reports contained a range of evidence for progress in this area. The broadest indicators were statistics relating to percentages of buildings approved as accessible, a statutory performance indicator required by Government. From Table 9 (page XX), it is clear local authorities have this information but not all include these figures in their annual report. The most specific gave details of door, lift, ramp installations and the provision of appropriate toilets and changing facilities. Accessibility to buildings and premises is an area that would appear to be a key area of improvement from the outset of disability equality duty.

7.47 Increased public provision, for example in libraries, of other aids for access such as loop systems, adapted signage, easy to use CD players or Browsealoud software were reported by almost all local authorities.

7.48 Almost all local authorities also report actions to increase availability of information in accessible formats. In most schemes this went as far as offering to provide on request some or most of the local authorities information in another format. While these developments might have been expected under the 1995 Disability Act, it would appear that the public sector duty has driven forward the necessary improvements.

7.49 Many local authorities are in the process of standardising their written information to conform to the latest accessibility guidance on type size, font and layout. Around half the schemes also aimed to promote the use of Plain English and a few were also developing Easy English versions of key documents.

7.50 Two thirds of local authorities report work to improve the accessibility of their web pages. Many are aiming for and achieving standards set by W3C, the Web Accessibility Initiative ². A few local authorities were in the process of developing wider online access guides in partnership with DisabledGo ³

7.51 One third of schemes also planned to increase access to their services through targeted publicity actions such as; the development of online and paper guides; the distribution of publicity through disability groups; features articles in local newsletters magazines and papers and annual reports of these schemes indicate that progress has been made with these actions. However, to date annual reports do not indicate how successful these actions were at reaching disabled people.

7.52 A few schemes were aiming to improve accessibility of services through the development of a single point of contact for disabled people.

Environmental Services

7.53 The majority of local authorities have taken some action to improve environmental services for disabled people. More than half of local authorities report improvements to curbs, pavements and crossings. Some local authorities (for example, West Dunbartonshire) have introduced a system of 'walking audits' which involve disabled people accompanying Local authority staff in the inspection of key pedestrian routes. Funding has been allocated to carry out the improvements recommended by the walking audits.

7.54 Around one third of local authorities provide assisted waste collection for older and disabled people. A few report dealing with obstructions and litter, with one environmental service department (Clackmannanshire) giving priority to disabled residents' requests for action.

7.55 Half the local authorities report improved and/or increased parking facilities for disabled people.

7.56 Almost half of all local authorities report developing planning procedures to improve the built and outdoor environment (see section 2e for Planning and the Built Environment)

Best value

7.57 Some local authorities (for example, Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, North Ayrshire) have refined the authority's best value framework to better incorporate disability considerations. Examples of this include:

• taking equality requirements into all the authority's procurement strategy and operations
• ensuring that equality performance information and targets in relation to the local authority's services are identified and measured through public performance reporting
• briefing managers on equalities issues
• ensuring the mainstreaming of equality issues as part of the authority's drive for continuous improvement and scrutiny structures
• at least one authority has an elected member with corporate responsibility for equality which has enabled a regular system of reporting on equalities to have happened at corporate level
• developing closer working arrangements between the authority's Corporate Equality Unit with other key units such as the Authority's Corporate Policy Team

Procurement

7.58 A significant number of local authorities (for example, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Argyll and Bute, Aberdeenshire, Fife) have considered how equality issues impact on the procurement framework, particularly those who have incorporated equality into the framework when they prepared for the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. Some local authorities are aware of their position as a purchaser and commissioner of goods and services. Some have noted the intention to review the authority's procurement strategy to incorporate disability considerations and to ensure compliance with disability legislation. These authorities outline certain steps they have taken or intend to take such as:

• checking suppliers' internal equality policies are adequate and in line with the authority's own practice.
• monitoring compliance by suppliers and contractors and followed up with timely reporting through the use of spot checks via an equalities questionnaire
• providing an 'Equality Certificate' to suppliers that meet the authority's equality standards
• ensuring staff engaged in procurement are properly trained and aware of equality issues
• including appropriate terms and conditions in tender documents and subsequent contracts and/or service level agreements
• review the weighting system for assessment of revenue projects and programmes to ensure equality issues are factored in

7.59 Some authorities note that current suppliers and organisations have been given a designated time to address and rectify any non-compliance and failure to satisfy local authority requirements and standards in relation to equality may result in a 'mind to comply' letter and eventually the termination of those contracts and agreements if improvements are not forthcoming.

7.60 One local authority (Falkirk) has a Procurement Toolkit in place which is shared with organisations they work with or contract services forms.

Community Planning

7.61 A significant number of authorities refer to community planning as part of their disability equality schemes. This is often in relation to how partners can provide for equality of opportunity and embed equality issues into the work of the partnership. Authorities recognise they have a coordination role providing synchrony across public agencies in terms of their responsibilities and actions under the disability equality duty. Some authorities (such as Aberdeenshire) have developed a partnership questionnaire to include consideration of compliance with statutory equality duties, including the disability duty and others share their equality impact assessment toolkit with members of planning partnerships (for example, Argyll and Bute).

7.62 Many others have included access panels or citizen panels within community planning partnerships, viewing the panels as partners within the process. Panels have provided advice on the development of schemes but also on programmes of work. The involvement of disabled people have also assisted some authorities to prioritise certain areas for action, such as addressing the issue of abuse of disabled parking spaces and improving services provided by taxis and private hire cars for disabled people.

7.63 A notable development has been the Equalities Hub which draws from four equality networks in Glasgow, of which the Glasgow Disability Alliance is such network. The Hub set up by the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership provides advice and act as a consulting body to all community planning partners within the Glasgow area and has assisted community planning partners agree on measures, indicators and data collection methods for equalities in community engagement. A recent contribution has been the contribution of disabled people to the design of the Riverside Museum, particularly in creating the 'Rethinking Disability Representation' initiative which aims to tell the stories of disabled people including their history in history. There are also efforts to encourage representation of disabled people in community planning management structures so that disabled people are strategically placed to influence change.

7.64 Some other local authorities have engaged external expertise to develop strategies to engage hard-to-reach groups such as people with learning disabilities. There is recognition by a number of local authorities of the need to ensure that a diversity of disabled people is enabled to participate, in particular, the participation of young disabled people. Others, through collaboration with third sector agencies working with, for example, people with sensory impairments or black and minority ethnic groups are now more able to include a range of issues and perspectives into their partnership programme (such as care needs of black and minority ethnic people within East Lothian).

7.65 Others (such as Renfrewshire) have found the networks within community planning partnerships a useful resource to assist the authority advertise and recruit for more disabled people to join the workforce of the authority. In particular, community planning partnerships are seen as being able to provide routes back to work for those who may still be out of work and were previously on Incapacity Benefit.

7.66 Some authorities (such as Highland Council) are now working on improving their monitoring and reporting of how equalities are embedded into community planning partnerships. This is being achieved by ensuring that the partnership's performance management framework addresses issues of equalities, including disability equality.

7.67 However, as noted above, there is further scope for disabled people to engage in community planning. MacDonald et al. (2008) suggest that a starting point might be the recognition of access panels as key partners within community planning structures and processes. There is a need to review the funding of access panels, help them to develop capacity and extend membership to ensure representation of the range of disabled.

Elections and polling

7.78 A quarter of local authorities have taken or plan to take some action to encourage disabled people to take part in the electoral process. Measures include: ensuring polling stations are physically accessible; training polling station staff to support access for people with sensory and mobility impairments; ensuring information about elections and voting is in plain English. One council (Perth and Kinross) organised an event for people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder prior to the recent Scottish elections to raise awareness of the voting process. Another (Falkirk) reported providing tactile voting devices with Braille markings at each polling station to assist voters with visual impairment to read ballot papers. In addition, guidance to voters was also produced in pictorial format. Some increase in physical accessibility of polling stations is reported, although at this stage, no evidence has been presented to indicate increased levels of participation or voter satisfaction with facilities.

7.68 To sum up, local authorities in Scotland have utilised the disability equality duty as a positive driver for change both as a service provider and also as an employer. Most have worked very hard to strengthen existing mechanisms or to develop new ways of consulting and involving disabled people. The partnership with disability organisations, groups and individuals has enabled local authorities to seek advice and expertise from disabled people in shaping local authority disability equality schemes as well as key policy areas such as in community planning. Local authorities have invested in staff development to raise awareness of disability issues but also in specific areas such as in mainstreaming and impact assessment. Another significant area of progress has been an improvement in access, both to the physical accessibility of local authority buildings but also to council services through better signage, accessible websites and better use of technology e.g. Browsealoud.

7.69 A significant number of local authorities have begun to embed equalities issues into their best value and procurement frameworks, however it is too early to gauge the full impact of such mainstreaming of equality issues. As not all authorities have fully engaged in this process, these are areas that warrant a more systematic approach across the country and this is discussed in the next section

Areas where progress is less evident

7.70 The following are areas either there has been limited evidence of progress or where there is scope for improvement:

• Harassment
• Information gathering and analysis
• Elections and polling
• Leisure
• Procurement
• Best Value

Harassment

7.73 Although almost every scheme outlined the general duty to reduce harassment of disabled people, only a few included specific actions to do so. One of these (Aberdeenshire) reported actions to reduce harassment which included; an initiative to promote positive attitudes through the use of positive images and publicity; the provision of disability awareness training; through publicising existing harassment policies and procedures; and increasing involvement in the local community safety partnership. No reports contained quantitative evidence of progress towards reducing incidents of harassment though several expressed intention to start collecting data in order to be able to establish more accurate baseline data.

Information gathering and analysis

7.74 Around half of all local authorities quoted some local statistical data relating to disability in their disability equality scheme. Most of the remaining local authorities quoted Scotland wide data produced by the former Disability Rights Commission. Almost all local authorities are taking or planning to take some action to gather more useful data. Some (Dundee, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Shetland and South Ayrshire) have thoroughly assessed national and local data. A few have gone further; acting as partners in local research (Midlothian). The Midlothian experience has produced data and ideas for the council on areas that require greater attention, such as addressing issues of workplace bullying and harassment. Through their employee survey, Talkback, the council has been able to gather more information from disabled employees about areas that require improvement for them as authority employees. However, most authorities are at the very beginning of the process of establishing systems, baselines and the nature of the data they plan to gather.

7.75 Very few local authorities present significant qualitative or quantitative data organised to demonstrate progress relating to the duty. If baselines, systems and measures of success are successfully established then progress in all areas may be evident in subsequent annual reports.

7.76 About half the schemes indicate local authorities plan to use customer and employee satisfaction surveys as a qualitative indicator, however these have not yet been conducted at the point of writing this report.

7.77 At least one third of local authorities noted that the data they had on employees and disability were unlikely to be accurate. Most were seeking ways to encourage more accurate disclosure. This under reporting was attributed in part to the reluctance of employees to be labelled, and possibly treated less favourably. Lack of understanding of the need for such statistics and of the DDA definition of disability were other factors that local authorities believe may be at the root of under reporting. A few local authorities (for example Aberdeenshire, Midlothian, South Ayrshire) report upward trends in disclosure of disability by employees. Some of the reasons for these upward trends could be due to the fact that these authorities had made efforts to communicate their reasons for gathering such statistics; provided definitions of disability and actively promoted to staff the council's willingness to support, value and continue to employ people with disabilities.

Leisure

7.79 Two thirds of local authorities make some reference to an aspect of leisure services within their action plans. Sport, the arts, and libraries are each mentioned by around one third of councils. The area of sports is further elaborated on in the Ministerial Portfolio for Health and Well-being. However most of these actions refer to improvements in physical accessibility. The most wide reaching seem to be the promotion of leisure access cards which entitles disabled people to reductions in entrance fees and the use of Browsealoud, and other aids to accessibility, in some libraries. Museums, parks and outdoor spaces appear in very few action plans. One local authority (East Renfrewshire) reports the development of its 'Portal to the Past 'project which makes local history and heritage available online. A few local authorities report the development of guidelines to promote standards of accessibility for council organised events. However no report has been made of the effect of these guidelines on events organisation in practice or on attendance levels or customer satisfaction.

Procurement

7.80 Two thirds of local authorities acknowledge their duty to promote disability equality through their procurement processes. Most outline clauses and specifications within contracts, or plan to do so. Only a minority describe robust systems for ensuring or promoting compliance. Edinburgh, for example, has agreed a new contractual clause on equalities, diversity and non discrimination. This new clause describes new legal duties and the potential of spot checks on funded organisations. It has also put in place a procedure to monitor and report on the number of companies checked in this way, the proportion that receive certificates of good practice and the proportion with whom follow up action is taken together with a description of that action. In addition to this action to ensure compliance, the local authority is also promoting the development of equality training, multi-equality action plans and impact assessment within organisations and companies with which it works.

7.81 There are authorities that have developed an approach of systematic mainstreaming of equalities into the procurement framework. These authorities are often able to list what they are doing in relation to equalities within procurement while others remain at aspirational levels or do not even mention procurement within their disability equality scheme.

Best value

7.82 There is scope for greater consideration of the disability equality duty and equalities in general in relation to best value. While a significant number of local authority schemes mention the importance of taking forward equality of opportunity within best value, few authorities provide concrete examples of how they intend to do this as part of their action plan. There is a sizeable gap between those local authorities that have thought more systematically about mainstreaming equalities into best value and those who have yet to do so.

7.83 Greater attention is required to ensure that the equality criteria of best value can be better evidenced as part of overall improvement and efficient government. Equalities is a cross-cutting issue for local authorities and there is a need to improve the awareness of the range of departments within the authority of their respective roles and contributions in facilitating for equality.

7.84 The independent review of the best value audit process (Grace et al., 2007) found that audits at present focus primarily on managerial issues and give relatively little attention to community planning, equalities or sustainability. Some local authorities have noted this lack of a consistent coverage by best value audit teams and would welcome a greater emphasis on equalities within reviews. However Grace et al.'s finding coupled with the review of schemes indicate that there is a need for a more systematic inclusion of equalities issues into the majority of local authority best value strategies.

7.85 To sum up, it is important to stress that local authorities have made improvements in many areas both as employers and service providers in relation to disability issues. What is now required is a narrowing of the gap between authorities that have done quite a lot and those that may be near the beginning of the learning curve. One of the ways of achieving this might be to enable better sharing of practice and with time and resource constraints to avoid re-inventing the wheel.

Categories of impairment

7.86 More than two thirds of local authority schemes acknowledged that understanding disability can be complex. Most of these referred with varying degrees of detail to the Disability Rights Commission's guidance on defining disability. The majority include a statement of the definition drawn from the Disability Discrimination Act, often followed by a statement of support for the social model of disability.

7.87 Less than half the action plans included actions specific to the range of disabilities to be addressed. Actions to address the needs of people with sensory and physical impairments as well as learning disabilities were fairly wide spread. Mental health, mental illness and long term limiting illness were rarely addressed.

Consultation with and involvement of disabled people

7.88 The specific duty to consult and involve disabled people in the work of local authorities has been progressed by almost every local authority. While a small minority had only managed what would be termed consultation during the development of their schemes, almost all had made significant efforts to involve disabled people in meaningful and effective ways. Overall, disabled employees, service users and groups have been involved in the development of schemes and action plans. Most local authorities are successfully moving beyond consultation to more active engagement of disabled people. Many are working to mainstream that involvement throughout their services and functions.

7.89 There was some evidence in a few annual reports to indicate that data gathered is influencing some aspects of future plans. Both Dundee and Aberdeen provide detailed feedback relating to specific concerns raised by disabled users. This feedback indicates that information provided by disabled people is influencing the quality of future actions. Dundee Council's "you said we did" section of its annual report is a noteworthy example which records how qualitative data has influenced council actions and future plans. For example, complaints were made about the lack of appropriate access and toilet facilities in Broughty Ferry. Dundee Council responded by facilitating discussions through the Licensing committee that have resulted in an agreement by a licensee to install disabled toilet facilities. The local authority has also become part of the Changing Places campaign ⁴ which has succeeded in gaining an enhanced facility in Broughty Ferry. Complaints were also received by the local authority regarding specific roads with lack of dropped kerbs for mobility access and as a result additional expenditure on dropped kerbs was approved in 2007.

7.90 Almost all local authorities have made use of one-off events and/or time-limited processes to involve disabled people in the development of their schemes and action plans. How these events were organised and structured was not described. Many also used questionnaires and surveys to identify areas where improvements were needed.

7.91 The majority of local authorities have made progress toward involving disabled employees and service users, disability groups, disability forum and access panels. Citizens panels and trade unions have been used by around one third of councils. Several councils are using the Community Planning Advice Note 5: Effective Community Engagement (Scottish Executive, 2004b) as a guide to their work.

7.92 More than half of all local authorities are reporting good progress in their efforts to involve disabled people in their ongoing work; users and employees forum are being developed and strengthened. Complaint and comments are being treated as a potential source of information and prompts for action. One local authority (Aberdeen) reported its responses to all such communication through an online forum. Service and employee surveys are being planned and adapted to allow councils to measure and compare satisfaction levels of disabled and non-disabled people. Some local authorities have made targeted efforts to engage hard to reach groups and individuals have been involved through using email, telephone and written communication where geography or the nature of their impairment has prevented other forms of engagement. About half of local authorities are, or are beginning to, involve a diverse range of disabled people in their impact assessment and Community Planning processes. Just under a quarter report the engagement of disabled people in the local community safety forum.

7.93 While many local authorities have had challenges and setbacks in their attempts to better involve a wider range of disabled people, they appreciate the contributions made by disabled people to date to their work. At least half recognise in their scheme that involvement must be supported through positive actions for example by funding and giving practical support to disability groups; offering expenses for voluntary involvement; ensuring expenses can be claimed simply and paid quickly; taking care to consult about suitable venues, times and access requirements for events; using criticism and suggestions to make immediate improvements when possible; inviting further engagement from individuals who make complaints or comments; giving high quality narrative feedback to disabled people about the results of their involvement; and taking steps, such as co-ordinating involvement with partner organisations, to avoid participation fatigue.

7.94 Increased involvement is generally being reported by most local authorities. This is most often in terms of higher numbers of meetings held and of people participating. Steps have also been made to widen participation. Two local authorities have, with its community planning partners commissioned a consultant to develop strategies to engage hard-to-reach groups (North Ayrshire, Orkney). Almost half of all councils have sought or plan to seek involvement of disabled people who experience multiple disadvantage. This has usually been through making contact with other equality groups. Suggestions and concerns raised by consultation and involvement are reported by the majority of local authorities. However only a minority indicate clearly how such involvement has effected change. A few councils report active engagement of disabled people in the process of service improvement for example as consultants, trainers, and mystery shoppers.

7.95 Several councils can demonstrate the significant involvement of disabled people in the development and delivery of their policies priorities functions and services. (Aberdeen, South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee). One council (South Lanarkshire) has adopted an "appreciative inquiry method" ⁵ to draw out disabled people's aspirations for their local council as well as their solutions to existing problems.

Summary and conclusions

7.96 Almost all schemes emphasised policymaking, monitoring and reporting functions as key to effecting progress towards disability equality. Annual reports and action plan updates indicate that councils have been working to meet the specific requirements of the disability equality duty; to produce schemes plans and reports, to conduct impact assessments and to involve disabled people in their work.

7.97 Almost all schemes recognise the local authority's duties as employers and potential employers of disabled people. Annual reports and action plan updates indicate that there is some increase in the support offered to disabled employees and that efforts are being made to recruit more disabled people.

7.98 Almost all local authorities include actions within their plans to improve and increase training of employees. Around half of these also aim to train elected officials. Annual reports and action plan updates indicate that training is being delivered.

7.99 Access to buildings, services and information is addressed by every action plan and increases in accessibility are reported. The majority of councils have taken some action to improve environmental services for disabled people; most commonly such actions relate to the alteration of kerbs, crossings, paths and pavements. Annual reports and action plan updates indicate that improvements are being made.

7.100 Annual reports and action plan updates indicate that almost all local authorities have taken action, some significantly so, to engage and involve disabled people in their work. At least half also report action to support and maintain such involvement.

7.101 Progress is less evident in some areas such as information gathering/analysis; leisure; procurement and best value.

• While almost all local authorities plan to improve their data collection and to use this data to improve their schemes the majority have yet to establish and report base lines. The majority of annual reports and action plan updates do not yet contain significant qualitative or quantitative data against which progress might be measured. If baselines, systems and measures of success are successfully established then progress in all areas may be evident in subsequent annual reports.
• Only one third of local authorities include some aspect of leisure services within their scheme. It may be that work by community, leisure, sports and arts centres, libraries and museums is going unreported.
• While the majority of authorities recognise the potential for influence in setting terms and conditions for procurement very few report a monitoring procedure to ensure these are met. There is very little evidence of procurement processes having led to improvements in either the services provided or the working conditions of employees working indirectly for the council.
• Greater attention could be paid as to how the best value framework could be made to work harder to deliver for equalities, including disability equality. Concrete targets which can be monitored would assist.

7.102 Local authority schemes, actions plans and annual reports vary widely in size, content and structure. The effort and resources given to producing these is clearly evident. Almost every authority has planned, taken and reported on action to reduce inequality between disabled and non-disabled people. Although the majority of schemes did demonstrate a good understanding of the complexity and breadth of disability this was not consistently translated into detailed action.

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