Our plan for Scotland: what it means for disabled people

Nicola Sturgeon has set out the Scottish Government’s plans for the next year.

Here’s just some of what we’re doing in government to support disabled people.  

  • We will publish a cross-government Disability Action plan, which will set out a wide-ranging set of actions to reduce inequality experienced by disabled people.
  • We will review the system of student support for those in further and higher education, and consider any opportunities to make use of new social security powers to support disabled students
  • We will continue work to implement the Equality Action Plan for Modern Apprentices in Scotland to increase the number of trainees who are disabled.
  • Through the National Entitlement Card, Scotland’s older people and disabled people will continue to be able to travel for free on local or Scottish long distance buses.
  • We have published Scotland’s first Accessible Travel Framework, which sets out how we will work towards enabling disabled people to enjoy the same travel rights as everyone else. Read more here.
  • We will explore the Buurtzorg model of care that has been so successful in the Netherlands. The Buurtzorg principles of self-help, independence and integration of support are exactly those we embrace here in Scotland, and we will begin testing this model in a range of areas across the country.
  • We will provide practical and financial support for disabled people who wish to stand for selection or election in the 2017 local government elections through the £200,000 Access to Elected Office Fund.
  • We will introduce a Social Security Bill by the end of this Parliamentary year, which will take forward our priorities of equality, dignity and fairness for the social security powers that are to be devolved.
  • We will extend winter fuel payments to families with severely disabled children.
  • We will abolish the Bedroom Tax as soon as we can.
  • We will establish a Disability Benefits Commission that will provide recommendations and guidance on reforms such as frequency of assessments, what conditions should be given an automatic or lifetime award, and eligibility criteria too.
  • We will build on the Scottish Independent Living Fund, which we established after the UK-wide scheme was scrapped by the Tories, by making new funding available for new users. These plans are being developed alongside disabled people, carers, representative organisation and local authorities.

  • We will begin work on a strategy for families with disabled children, linking to activity to develop the Child and Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Strategy.