Discussion paper to Disability Working Group, Core Group Meeting, 15 September 2005
PULLING TOGETHER AND PRESENTING RECOMMENDATIONS
Sally Witcher, September 2005
1. Introduction - where we need to get to
The next and last scheduled meeting of the Core Group is due to take place on 9 November. It is therefore important that we identify what needs to be done between now and then, and start to firm up what form the end result of this exercise should take, how it should be presented, etc. This means it should be easier to clarify what each satellite group needs to do before the 9 November meeting, what needs to be brought to that meeting and what that meeting needs to agree.
What we need to achieve was set out early on in the remit for the Disability Working Group:
"To establish priorities for the Scottish Executive and partner organisations to promote equality for disabled people in Scotland; and to develop proposals on longer term mechanisms for engagement with the disability sector.".
It was agreed that the overall outcome of the process will be SMART recommendations (i.e. recommendations that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed). Recommendations will be for the Executive and wider public sector (local government, health or education bodies,). We are not in a position to make recommendations to the Westminster Government (although there may be other vehicles for doing this - see paper on 'engaging disability organisations' and the DRC's 'Disability Debate' - see www.disabilitydebate.org).
2. The 9 November core group meeting
In order to provide a steer to satellite groups and to be well-prepared for the meeting on 9 November, it is proposed to have some preliminary discussion now of the issues the 9 November meeting will need to address. It is not intended to have a full discussion now - in fact it isn't possible as we don't have all the information yet. However it might be useful to get some initial thoughts and to think through now whether there's anything else that meeting will need to consider.
At its meeting on 9 November it is anticipated the core group will need to:
a) Identify overlaps, identify gaps
b) Agree the recommendations to go forward
c) Agree broadly how they should be presented. Should they be presented in a written report? If so, broadly how might it be structured? For example, it may make sense to have sections on each satellite group area/ set of areas, with maybe another 'cross-cutting' section for recommendations which are relevant to all. There could also be an introductory section, describing the DWG exercise, purpose, starting point, wider context. It may or may not make sense to include discussion papers that went to satellite groups, or extracts from them.
d) If it is decided that some sort of report should be drafted to pull everything together, would this need to be 'signed-off' by core-group members? This might be done by e-mail, or it may be necessary to schedule another meeting.
e) What should happen then? For example, should the recommendations/ report be launched at an event? How will progress be monitored in future? This might be where the 'mechanism for engagement with disability organisations' fits in (see other paper on this)
Another thing to consider might be how and if the recommendations could feed into other activities underway, such as the Equal Opportunities Committee's inquiry, or the Disability Rights Commission's 'Disability Debate'.
There may be other ways to do things, and/ or other things that need to be considered about the best way to take this forward.
In preparing for the 9 November meeting, core group members could usefully consult the Disability Working Group web-site which should be functioning by the time of the 15 September meeting. This will have all the papers and minutes of all the meetings, so it should be possible to get a sense of the 'big picture', identify overlaps and gaps, etc.
3. What each satellite group needs to do next
Each group needs to formulate draft recommendations. It might help both satellite and core group discussions if all recommendations were presented in broadly the same way (a proforma could be drawn up if that would be useful), making clear:
a) Who the recommendation is for. It may be that more than one body needs to act, e.g. that the Scottish Executive (SE) needs to do something and local authorities need to do something. It may be that different bits of the SE have to do different things. The more specific it is possible to be about who needs to do what the better. It may also be relevant/ helpful to suggest how they should proceed.
b) It may be that some recommendations need to be implemented before others can be, or that actions need to happen in a certain order, or that different actions need to happen simultaneously. If so, it might be helpful to flag this.
c) Consider and highlight wider equality issues, i.e. does the recommendation have implications for particular groups of disabled people in terms of impairment type, ethnicity, gender, age, location (rural/ remote/ urban), etc?
d) Recommendations which appear to have implications for areas covered by other satellite groups could also be identified
Are there any other things satellite groups could usefully consider?
Time-table
Satellite groups will need to have compiled their draft recommendations in time for these to be circulated in advance of the 9 November core group meeting. This means they will need to be e-mailed to graeme.bryce@scotland.gsi.gov.uk by 28 October Depending on what the core group decides at its meeting on 9 November, it may well be necessary to time-table in other activities.