DISABILITY WORKING GROUP
Satellite Group 3 - Consultation and communication; education and training; citizenship and public attitudes
Potential Draft Recommendations on Citizenship and Attitudes
Background
1. To date, satellite group 3 has considered consultation and communication, and education and training issues in detail. At its final meeting it will consider citizenship and attitudes. It has had some discussion at earlier meetings covering citizenship and attitudes and by way of background that is set out below.
2. The note of the 1st meeting of the group on 23 May records:
"Lionel suggested that perhaps the purpose of the Disability Working Group in its totality was about enabling active and useful citizenship. It would be important to look at the roles of disabled people in policy making bodies but it might also be essential to ask disabled people how they feel about citizenship."
3. The note of the 2nd meeting on 23 June records:
"The group spent some time discussing 'citizenship'. The group considered that if they wanted to refer to this in their recommendations they would need to define it. Sally's paper helped, with its focus on choices, rights, responsibilities and participation. But it was also important to be straightforward and to focus recommendations on the practical issues which will make a difference. It was suggested that citizenship might underpin everything the working group was doing and would provide a point of reference to check recommendations against.
The group stopped short of agreeing a definition of citizenship but agreed that there were certain key underlying principles - choices, rights, responsibilities and participation. The group would consider further whether to include a paragraph or a statement about citizenship to introduce or underpin its recommendations. Euan agreed to circulate a paper by Jenny Morris which might help understanding of disability and citizenship."
4. The papers for the 23 June meeting include the following list of current initiatives and issues relevant to citizenship and attitudes:
initiatives and issues relevant to citizenship:
a) The way in which disability features in citizenship teaching might be worth investigating (see the DRC's citizenship web-site: www.drc-gb.org/citizenship )
b) The Public Sector Duty might be useful in different ways, e.g. it includes a provision in the General Duty requiring public authorities to have regard for the 'need to encourage participation of disabled people in public life', and it may be a means of generating useful facts and figures about participation
c) The Scottish Executive Public Appointments Unit has an ' NDPB Shadow Initiative' scheme to help encourage a diversity of candidates to serve on public bodies.
d) The Scottish Executive has a volunteering strategy and various initiatives around volunteering
e) Proposals for individualised budgets and the strengthening of Centres for Independent Living might be useful to consider in the Scottish context ( P.M.'s Strategy Unit 2005)
f) The DRC has initiated a debate on 'the future of equality' (see www.drc-gb.org )
g) The recent Disability Discrimination Act extends coverage to protect disabled Councillors from discrimination. What are the implications for Scotland?
h) Could/ Should more be done to build the confidence and skills of disabled people?
initiatives and issues relevant to public attitudes:
i) The way in which disability features in education through, for example, citizenship teaching might be worth investigating (see the DRC's citizenship web-site: www.drc-gb.org/citizenship )
j) The Public Sector Duty might be useful in different ways, e.g. it includes a provision in the General Duty requiring public authorities to have regard for the 'need to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people' and 'encourage participation of disabled people in public life'.
k) A Working Group on Hate Crime reported in October 2004. The Executive is considering the report and will respond shortly. It contains many recommendations for action including changes to legislation and campaigns to change attitudes www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/justice/wgohcr-00.asp
l) The Scottish Executive has a volunteering strategy and various initiatives around volunteering
m) The DRC has initiated a debate on 'the future of equality' (see www.drc-gb.org )
n) Could/ Should more be done to develop and support disability awareness training? If so, what needs to be done?
Areas for potential recommendations
5. Satellite group 3 now needs to look in detail at citizenship and attitudes and consider what recommendations it might wish to make. The following list of draft action points is based on the above lists of current initiatives and issues relevant to citizenship and attitudes.
The public sector duty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people
The duty includes a requirement to 'promote positive attitudes towards disabled people' and 'encourage participation of disabled people in public life'. What should this mean for the Scottish Executive?
Public Campaigns
The Executive has already taken steps to implement attitudinal campaigns against prejudice - for example, the One Scotland Many Cultures and 'See Me…' campaigns. Should there be something similar on disability?
Citizenship teaching
A pack produced by the Disability Rights Commission has been distributed to all schools in Scotland. What else needs to be done to ensure that young people develop inclusive understanding of citizenship?
Public Appointments
The new Commissioner for Public Appointments has a statutory duty to produce a diversity strategy. How might the disability working group feed into this?