Executive Summary

Introduction

The Working Group was set up by the Scottish Office to consider how the provision of information for people with disabilities and their carers in Scotland might be improved. The group took account of the experience of existing information services in Scotland, the experience of the National Disability Information Project in England, and of developments elsewhere.

The existing pattern of provision

Responses to the Working Group's statement indicated the following features in the present situation:

• wide variation in the provision of information services at local level throughout different parts of Scotland, and in the extent to which and the manner in which local authorities attempt to meet their statutory duty to provide information to disabled people;
• poor relationships amongst information providers at national and at local level, and between national and local level;
• concern about the quality of information available, and of the services providing that information;
• a need for more cooperation between agencies in the statutory sector, and between the statutory and the independent sectors;
• a desire for a central clearing house to distribute national information to local information services and to service providers, and to be an authoritative source of Scottish information; and
• a concern that too much time and effort is spent on collecting information and not enough on disseminating it and publicising the services available.

Proposals for improvement

The Working Group bases its recommendations on certain propositions:

• Disabled people need the same kind of information as everyone else, but often find it more difficult to access that information because of
• physical barriers;
• information not being in a form or a language in which they can understand it; and
• attitudinal barriers.
• In addition disabled people need information and advice about disability benefits and other rights, aids and equipment for work or for daily living, about self help and support groups, and about independent living.
• Disabled people and their carers tend to look locally for the information and advice they need.

In addition the Working Group accepts various principles which it thinks should underlie any improvement to existing provision:

• Services should be designed so as to meet the needs of users, whether they are disabled people, their carers or professionals.
• Disabled people must wherever possible be actively involved in the provision and management of such services.

The Working Group believes that the most significant way in which improvements can be made in getting information to those who need it is to improve the dissemination of information at local level, in such a way as to

• make information and advice from generalist agencies more accessible, by improving the physical accessibility of general sources of information and advice, and by making it possible to produce information in a range of formats and appropriate languages;
• improve the provision of specific disability information, with particular reference to the availability of resource centres for aids and equipment;
• improve the awareness of disability among service providers of all types;
• improve collaboration, multi-agency working, and networking at local level; and
• ensure that national standards for the dissemination of information and advice are met by any organisation which receives funding from central or local government to provide this service.

Recommendations

The Working Group recommends that, in order to achieve the improvements in the delivery of information and advice to disabled people and their carers at local level described above, the following steps should be taken:

• Local authorities should be required to set up a strategy group to prepare a strategy for information and advice services in their areas. The strategy group should include representatives from the independent and statutory sectors, and involve disabled people.
• The provision of national disability information to local service providers should be streamlined and improved in such a way as to meet the needs of those service providers and other users.
• The development of standards for use in this area should be the responsibility of an advisory body which should be composed of disabled people, carers, and their representatives, together with people with other appropriate experience. This advisory body should also be responsible for the overview of the operation of information services for disabled people at national level.
• With a view to streamlining the provision of national information to local services, a Scottish national disability information service should be established under the auspices of the advisory body.

Next: Parts 1,2 and 3 of the report