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Annex A
CULTURE, ARTS AND THE BUILT HERITAGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
The report on Culture, Arts and Built Heritage contains two thematic sections corresponding to the focus areas in that ministerial portfolio: firstly, Arts and Culture and secondly, the Built Environment.
Each section contains an introduction to the relevant policy context, research and statistical evidence on the position of disabled people and progress towards greater equality; findings from the schemes about areas where progress is evident, and areas where it is less evident; notes on the use of categories of impairment and on the evidence of consultation and involvement of disabled people in the development of the schemes.
FOCUS AREAS
Arts and Culture
This section covers the public authorities in this portfolio that between them have strategic roles in delivering for culture and arts in Scotland. These authorities include Bord Na Gaidhlig, the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, the National Museums of Scotland, the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.
Disability, arts and culture interweave in different ways. There is the issue of access to arts and culture for disabled people, the cultural representation of disability and disabled people, the involvement of disabled people within the arts as contributors and shapers (e.g. performers, writers, commissioning agents), arts and cultural organisations as employers and the impact of arts on promoting general well-being, mental health and cohesion within communities.
Evidence of positive activity in schemes and reports were found in four areas:
- improving accessibility in terms of physical access into buildings as well as intellectual access in terms of major commissions, curated exhibitions and content of websites;
- consideration of equality impact assessment on current but particularly new polices and programmes;
- provision of generic and specialised disability awareness training to staff and
- improving communication and marketing to disabled people and communities including involving disabled people to gain audience feedback, to advise in decision-making processes of organisations, for example in shaping policy and priority action areas
Public authorities are at varying stages of the learning curves. The key areas requiring further attention include the identification of baseline data from which progress can be benchmarked and monitored, more systematic consideration of disability issues in relation to health and safety, checking that there are procedures in place to address harassment on grounds of disability and mainstreaming of disability issues to organisational policies and practices.
Built Heritage
The lead public authority in Scotland for addressing built heritage is Historic Scotland. The historic environment, through its buildings, archaeological and historic sites and landscapes, provide an important sense of place for Scotland's people. It contributes to local character and distinctiveness and is a source of enjoyment and inspiration, improving quality of life for current and future generations. Historic sites are also significant contributors to the economic well-being of Scotland boosting visitor figures and spending in Scotland.
Evidence of positive activity in schemes and reports were found in three areas:
- improving accessibility into building and premises as well as to generic services through improved marketing and communication, improved websites as well as the provision of remote access to facilities through provision of talks and audio books;
- consulting and involving disabled employees to assist them in career progressions as well as consulting disabled people more generally in relation to identifying barriers to participation and
- equality impact assessing new policies and current planned activity.
Two areas where progress is less evident are; firstly, improving the availability of data in relation to disability and secondly, developing greater partnership and collaboration with disabled people and organisations. To ascertain progress would require both quantitative and qualitative evidence on uptake, participation and satisfaction. Access to the built heritage for disabled people would require coordination and partnership with a range of bodies, including local authorities, the voluntary sector and other organisations working on disability issues.
CATEGORIES OF IMPAIRMENT
The majority of schemes and action plans in this portfolio demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of the term 'disabled' and that such a term encompasses a diversity of disabled people. However, the primary areas that have had most attention related to mobility and sensory impairments. A few authorities have included people with learning disabilities and those with mental health issues but these are in the minority.
CONSULTATION AND INVOLVEMENT
All authorities within this portfolio acknowledge the importance of consulting and involving disabled people and disabled employees in developing schemes, action plans and in the monitoring of progress. Some routinely involve trades unions. Several public authorities have sought to improve the involvement of disabled people in the decision-making processes of the organisation, for example, in the shaping of policy, identification of priority action areas, identification of barriers faced by disabled people and agree steps to remove these.
The methods for consultation and involvement include the use of surveys, focus groups, local access forums, 1-1 discussions, having 'disabled representatives' on working groups, advisory bodies and boards and trawling previous research data for useful information. Progress towards meaningful involvement of disabled people and qualitative data collection is varied. Public authorities that have been accustomed to seeking user feedback and to improve consultation and participation have been able to augment these areas of work by including disabled people within ongoing surveys and research studies.
For these public authorities, it would appear that consultations and involvement are having some impact on both the service provision and employment sectors in some organisations, but hard data on outcomes remains scarce.
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