 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 2225 in the name of Pam Duncan-Glancy on international day of disabled people. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put. I would ask members who wish to participate to press the request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible, or place an R in the chat function. I call on Pam Duncan-Glancy to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. There are moments in all of our lives when we feel the need to pinch ourselves, and I have to say today for me as one of those moments. Not only do I feel honoured and proud, as I always do, to be a disabled person and to celebrate disabled people and our organisations world over, but I'm incredibly proud and grateful to be able to celebrate our collective fight from this chamber, having secured a member's debate today on international day of disabled people, which is tomorrow. What an absolute privilege it is to open this debate. In my first-ever speech to this Parliament, I paid tribute to the disability movement, and today I want to do that again and to expand on it. The theme for this year's day is leadership and participation in a post-Covid world. I want to dedicate my time today to the fights, the incredible disability movement, of which I'm proud to be part, have led and won, and the fights we are yet to win. It is the endless struggle and, yes, the suffrage throughout the history of this movement that are the reason that these days exist, that we are able to celebrate them and harness them to promote and improve the human rights of disabled people across the country and the world. But as I'm sure we'll all agree, disabled people's rights are human rights every single day of the year. We in this chamber owe it to those who have fought for their right to exist, not even live a life, to fight for it too every day. This past year has been tough for all of us, but for disabled people who have had their rights and freedoms stifled and stopped by a system that fought against them, rather than that which enabled them to realise their rights, things were hard before Covid. They have lived in lockdown for years. Long before the pandemic, disabled people across Scotland had been living below the poverty line, having their care packages cut and, in effect, their lifeline, and they've been forced to drag themselves upstairs because there aren't enough accessible homes. Covid has deepened that inequality and exacerbated those problems, and I think that that is clear for all of us across the chamber to see. I've said it before from this bench, but it's a point that I think must be reinforced. We cannot go back to that normal. We must go forward to better. To a better Scotland for everyone that lives here, and that must include ensuring that disabled people are included on the journey to recovery. We cannot and should not want to get there without them. We must have them at the heart of all that we do. It's been said that if you're not around the table, you're probably on the menu. We only have to look at what is first to go when the going gets tough and who loses out on the most to see how true that is. In the initial months of the pandemic, disabled people made up almost six in ten of Covid-related deaths. There is no statistic that could highlight the deep inequality facing disabled people more than that. Sadly, there are more figures that highlight that too. In the midst of the toughest years of our lives, disabled people have had their care and support withdrawn overnight. Their lifeline denied. Their families and loved ones have been left to pick up the pieces, and this has broken unpaid carers. Forty per cent of children living in households where someone is disabled are living in poverty. We know that in many cases disability benefits don't even scratch the surface of the additional costs associated with being a disabled person. There remains a disability employment gap of 32.6 per cent, and progress to reduce that has been slow. Recent analysis by the Scottish Government has shown that the employment rate of disabled people fell by 5.7 per cent throughout 2020. Further analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that disabled people had reported a loss of earnings by the middle of 2020. As we begin to make our recovery from the pandemic, one in four disabled people are worried about their health and safety at work, especially as workers begin to return to the offices and public-facing roles. We have to change. We all deserve better than this. That starts by making sure that disabled people are at the centre of our recovery. Deputy Presiding Officer, disabled people are innovative by design. We have to be just to get by. Let's make sure that they are around the table, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because you never know, we might learn something. Decisions about us must never be made without us, and I would urge the Government to make sure that they never are. To do that, they have to actively involve disabled people. Go that extra mile to make sure that they are around the table, and that means resourcing disabled people's organisations. Disabled people's organisations are way more than service providers, and in fact, usually that is not their main thing. They advocate and speak truth to power for a better world. They develop policy, build capacity, support, lead, listen, deliver and fight. Like thousands of other disabled people, they have given me so much. It is not an underestimation to say that they changed my life. It was because of disabled people and the collective action and solidarity of our organisations and of the Labour Party and the movement that I realised that inequality experienced by me was not the fault of mine. I was not broken or wrong, society was. The inequality that I experienced and the other disabled people do too is the consequence of structural systemic oppression. It was because of disabled people and our organisations that we have rose up and demanded our rights and our emancipation. Disabled people's organisations are life-changing for disabled people, a lifeline for our families and their pure goal for Governments who want to improve the lives of disabled people, because I promise you that they can tell you how. None of us know what the future holds, but we do know this. Inequality cannot be an option and we cannot only conquer it by working together with disabled people and their organisations. They have told us for a long time what that future should look like for them. It is a Scotland where social care meets our human rights and our workers' rights. Charges for it are gone and social care workers get £15 an hour. It is a Scotland where equality and human rights are enshrined in law and delivered in practice, including by full incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. It is a Scotland with a social security system that is there for people in and out of work, that guarantees a minimum income and, crucially, that does so who has properly taken account of the varying conditions that disabled people live with and the costs they incur. If we do those things, we begin to scratch the surface of tackling the systemic, sustained and ingrained inequalities facing disabled people. That is the new normal that we in this chamber must seek and must deliver. Finally, on this International Day of Disabled People, the week of International Day of Disabled People, I want to end with a message to disabled people across Scotland. I promise that, for as long as I am in this place, your fight will be my fight, there will be nothing about us without us. Thank you. Thank you, well done, Ms Duncan Glancy. I now call on Stephanie Callaghan, who will be followed by Brian Whittle in four minutes, please, Ms Callaghan. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Pam for bringing this debate to the chamber. I will touch on many of the same points because they are very, very important points to be making. So, while the International Day of People with Disabilities should be a time to celebrate and embrace the many and varied achievements of our disabled brothers and sisters, I am afraid this year, as we remain in the midst of a pandemic, that most people with a disability will struggle to celebrate. As you have already heard, the theme of tomorrow's story, International Day, is fighting for the rights in the post-COVA era. What a sad indictment that, in 2021, disabled people are still fighting for their rights. While the challenges facing people with disabilities are not new, the pandemic has crystallised many and it's created new ones too. Health inequalities between disabled and non-disabled people are stark and they make for grim reading. Six in 10 people who die of Covid-19 will have a disability, whether that's visible or hidden. Today, people with disabilities continue to be more likely to contract Covid than the general population. On top of being at greater health risks, that underlying societal conditions for disabled people require an urgent and sustained response. The latest figures in the disability employment gap in Scotland reveal that the employment rate of disabled people remained 35.5 per cent lower than that of non-disabled people. Not just now, sorry, I've got a lot to fit in steering. While disabled Scots make up around 20 per cent of our nation's population, too often they still remain excluded from much of society, be it decision making, policy setting, employment culture or sport. As Scotland continues its journey of recovery, people with disabilities, including disabilities that might not be seen, need to be included in all areas of policy recovery. An ingredient to creating sustainable societies that embrace people with disabilities is to have communities based on the law of equity rather than just the law of equality. There is an important difference between the two. While equality means that everyone is treated the same exact way, regardless of need or any other individual difference, equity means that everyone is provided with what they need to succeed. Equity is about levelling the playing field. As a South Lancer councillor, I have had the joy and privilege of working with councillor Grant Ferguson, who is the first BSL councillor in Scotland. Conducting virtual meetings created great challenges for Grant, and our councillors' well meant suggestions were quite frankly unhelpful and a wee bit rubbish to be honest. It took Grant to find his own needs to find real solutions, and that clearly demonstrates why the full and direct participation of disabled people is so important. Hence the popular slogan, nothing about us without us. But as we know, change cannot be one-dimensional, and we must challenge attitudes, and the pandemic has presented a real opportunity to make workplaces more inclusive and allow employers to tap into the benefits of a diverse workforce. For example, a person with autism has a neurodiverse mind, a way of seeing the world differently to others, and as my autistic child once said to me, mum, the world needs statistic brains to solve the problems normal brains can't solve. There's a vast pool of untapped talent out there. People who can help businesses become stronger and more competitive, but only if those businesses are willing to stop seeing someone's disability as a problem and really start viewing it as an asset. Let us show people the strengths and abilities of those persons who are currently being excluded, let us change attitudes, remove barriers, and treat those of all abilities with dignity and respect. Let's learn from disabled people themselves. In the post-Covid world, we must not forget the idea of returning to how things were before the pandemic really isn't on. We don't want to back, we want to go forwards towards a more inclusive future and a more inclusive Scotland. Thank you very much indeed, Ms Callan. I recognise that this is a very consensual debate, but I would just gently remind colleagues to refer to each other by their full names. I call on Brian Whittle to be followed by Daniel Johnson. Four minutes, Mr Whittle. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I congratulate Pam Duncan for bringing this debate to the chamber and giving us the opportunity once again to discuss... which I've always described in here as a misnomer. I've never, ever liked the term disability. I think my view is that everybody has an ability, and it's our job in here to ensure that the route to achieving those abilities are realised. We have come a long way, without question, in this particular area. Obviously, I will talk about sport at some point during this speech. I make no apology for that, but I wanted to talk about an issue that was raised just there on employment rates. I was asked to go down to South Ayrshire to discuss an event with employers till we could discuss with employers the importance of making sure that their workforce is representative of their communities and also to highlight that the support that's available to employers to ensure that the workplace environment is adapted to those with any kind of disability. Of course, the first thing I did was turn to my colleague Jeremy Balfour and asked if he would come down with me because how better to demonstrate achievement through disability than with Jeremy Balfour. That double act was, of course, then born, and it's not so much more than the wise, he's the funny one, but we were asked down to several after that, and now we have Pam Duncan-Glancy's real demonstrate. I will give way to Mr Kerr. Stephen Kerr. To my friend for giving way, I congratulate Pam Duncan-Glancy on her motion and her excellent speech. But isn't one of the ways that MSPs can practically show our commitment to this celebration tomorrow by signing up to become disability-confident employers, to commit ourselves to the five commitments of being disability-confident employers? Brian Whittle. Thank you, Stephen Kerr, for that intervention. It's absolutely right, of course. I think that in the last Parliament, quite a lot of us did exactly that to make sure that we not only walk the walk, but we walk the walk as well. I think that it's incredibly important that we, as MSPs, demonstrate leadership. I'm going to talk about sport, obviously, for the next minute or so. Again, we've come on off a long way if we look at the Paralympics and how that's developed over the last decade even, how it's come forward. It's come much more into the public for the forefront of the public knowledge. London 2012 was a big turning point for that. I've said before in this chamber, I've been extremely fortunate, as a coach still do, among the athletes that I've coached, I've coached those who have so-called disabilities. That means a terrible palsy, FASD or autism. Some are visible, some are not. But what I do know is, their inclusion, that positive impact and their ability to participate is life-changing for them. I spoke at the FASD debate in here and told the young man that I was working with him and how that framework of sport has actually helped him develop as a person. He went to college and he's now out and working and living on his own. It is crucially important that we have the opportunity, for all in respect to a background of personal circumstances, to participate. The big issue with me is not so much what those with disabilities do once they get to the sport. It is their access to get there. The one that I always talk about is the Isher Tigers power chair football who have given us lessons over and over again on how to play that game and the problem with them is actually getting them to training and to competition. I will wind up, Deputy Presiding Officer, just by saying that. Again, thank you Pamdan Cenglancy for bringing that to the chamber. Ensure that whenever we are deciding in this chamber what we are going to do, access to opportunity is absolutely crucial. Thank you, Mr Whittle. I now call Daniel Johnson, who will be followed by Marie McNair. Four minutes, please, Mr Johnson. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to begin my remarks by saying thank you, not just the customary thank you for securing this debate, although I am incredibly grateful that she has. Actually, thanks to her and one other member in this chamber, Jeremy Balfour, because I am a disabled person. I have ADHD and that is not something I would have been comfortable saying if it wasn't for Pamdan Cenglancy's support, I apologise, Deputy Presiding Officer, and Jeremy Balfour's. I will never forget the conversation I had with Jeremy in the garden lobby after I stated that I had ADHD and he said, look, you must tell Parliament that you have a disability. I wasn't very sure. I wasn't sure I was quote-unquote disabled enough and Jeremy said to me, no, it's important you do because everyone has a disability, it has to be a matter of fact, I'm confident in discussing it because unless you do, you're making it harder for all of us. That was an important contribution and Pam likewise was very encouraging and reassuring in embracing the fact that I had a disability. Importantly, that has given me ownership, ownership of my own identity because you can't understand me if you don't understand my ADHD. It is a vital part of how I think, how I behave, how I see the world and sometimes that's not always terribly easy but it's easier if I explain what I have and who I am, especially perhaps when I'm blurting out in the chamber when perhaps I should be sitting and staying quiet, Deputy Presiding Officer and thank you for your patience. But it goes beyond that because I think it's also critically important that we do talk about those disabilities that aren't immediately obvious, those disabilities which are invisible because there's one other aspect apart from just simply, I think, us all having confidence is that we have to acknowledge that what we've made huge progress in talking about disability, breaking down those prejudices, there is still huge prejudice against those with disability, especially those which are invisible. It is still acceptable and you will still hear jokes being made where dyslexia is used as the punchline for poor spelling, where social awkwardness is dismissed as someone being a bit on the spectrum, where someone's ability, inability to concentrate as being a bit, ADHD. We are one of the groups in society where it's still acceptable to make us the butt of a joke, to be casually dismissive or prejudiced against, and that has to stop. We also need better understanding. Just today we heard people being stigmatised for taking medication. I took my medication this morning and I'm not going to apologise for it and we need understanding that some people need medication to overcome their disability, to help them with their disability because my brothers and sisters with autism don't have a prescription they can take to help them with their invisible disability and I'm grateful for the ability to take mine. Indeed, if you want an understanding of the stark reality of these disabilities, every single one of the groups that are included in neurodevelopmental disorders is overrepresented in prison. A people with ADHD five times more likely than the general population to be in prison. People with autism twice as likely people with dyslexia three times as likely to be in prison. There is no greater sign of the injustice happening against people with neurodevelopmental disorders than that statistic. We can't go back to the new normal. Pam Duncan-Glancy is absolutely right. We need better understanding, we need to break down those barriers and we need to break down the prejudices that exist. Thank you very much, Mr Johnson. I could just clarify that an explanation of an intervention from a sedentary position will not be considered a justification for it. I also know that I've got my work cut out getting people to refer to each other by their full names, but I take that in the spirit of this debate and I'll call Marie McNair, who will be followed by Jeremy Balfour and Ms McNair around four minutes, please. I'm pleased to speak in this important debate on the work international day of persons with disabilities. I congratulate Pam Duncan-Glancy for securing this member's debate. As one of our colleagues on the social justice and social security committee, I see first hand her determination to ensure that the needs of disabled people are listened to. Today it allows us on a cross-party basis to show our support for this annual event. The theme this year is fighting for the rights in the post-Covid era. I welcome this theme in straightaway as a member of the Parliament on social justice and social security committee. I'm reminded of the evidence that we recently received from the Glasgow Disability Alliance. They were clear that they believed that the pandemic has supercharged inequalities that are faced and has created new ones. Glasgow Disability Alliance correctly pointed out that listening to the voices of disabled people will be vital to ensuring that the recovery leaves no one behind. The debate gives us all the opportunity to say that we hear that message and that we will listen to disabled people when we make our decisions. I am very supportive of this approach and it is my long-standing view that disabled people massively enhance our country and should be involved in shaping its future. My view on this has been positively enhanced by my volunteer work with adults with additional support needs which we began in my teenage years and our employment as a support worker in the heart of my constituency and I draw members' attention to my register of interests of my previous employment. As MSPs, we owe a big thanks to Inclusion Scotland for the excellent briefing that they have reduced for this debate. They are clear in that briefing that disabled people have been hardest hit by Covid-19 and they also stress that disabled people want to move forward and not back. They want to do that as leaders and full participants and help create a more inclusive future. This Parliament must unite with that approach and we have made good progress as part of the Dignity, Fairness and Respect agenda as we redesign social security. That redesign has rightly involved disabled people and their experiences are vital to avoid the future or failures of the past. For example, he has vehemently rejected the use of private sector assessments in the harsh conditionality regime that has been at the heart of Westminster's system of disability benefits for many years. Once we have the safe transfer of cases from the DWP to Social Security Scotland, we will continue with this much needed redesign. Unfortunately, that harsh assessment regime remains for universal credit and legacy benefits and we also see benefits sanction levels creep up again from their closing down during the pandemic, so we must continue to call this out and not let disabled people in Scotland be subjected to a two-tier system of social security. But it is not just social security where we take an approach that listens to disabled people. That must be how we make decisions across the whole range of services we have been riding in Scotland. So around health and social care, education, housing, transport and our green recovery we must listen to the voices of those who can help us shape a way out of the pandemic that is fair, just and leaves no one behind. Presiding Officer, in closing I take this opportunity to thank all the groups in my constituency that support disabled people and are led by disabled people. There is a real strong community spirit across Clydebank, Bearsden and Mogai and I promise they will continue to be on their side in this Parliament. Thank you. I now call Jeremy Balfour who will be followed by Paula Keane for a minute, Mr Balfour. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Like others, I want to first of all thank Mr Balfour for his plan to say for secure Mr Bate. It provides a valuable platform for us to commend the work of those who have gone before us on those issues but also look forward to the progress that is yet to be made. I'd like to thank my colleagues from across the chamber who have given up their lunch hour to come and engage with the issues surrounding disability. Even though disabled people make up 20 per cent of the Scottish population, it can often feel like they are certainly concerned to other issues and so I'm grateful to and encouraged by those who have come to participate. I'm also happy that I'm no longer able to say that I'm the only person in this Parliament who openly identifies by having a physical disability as I was in the last session. It is inarguable that we have benefited greatly from the election of a more inclusive Parliament and I look forward to further progress being made in elections to come. Deputy Presiding Officer, even though these great strides have been made, we are still not at a destination of a truly inclusive Parliament. There are still barriers that must be broken down, both in the material sense but under the context of our attitude to disabled issues. That brings me to the point that I would like to make clearly. We do a great disservice to those people by lowering the bar too far too much for them. Viewing a person's specific disability as indicative of their wider ability is something that is very common and is very destructive. We should not lower the achievement bar beyond what is reasonably simple to bestow good feelings on roads with disability or as in often the case ourselves. We are best encouraging and at worst forcing disabled people to settle for a life in which they do not fulfil their potential or pursue their dreams. Far too often we make the assumption that just because someone can't do some things then they can't do anything at all. That is clearly not the case in reality, displayed in the fact that disabled people who have succeeded in a wide range of sectors we should be encouraging everyone regardless of disability to strive for the best they can be and do and support them in their efforts. Of course we should be pragmatic in this endeavour. It would be dishonest to acknowledge the fact that there are limitations that disabled people experience that inform the extent that they can progress in certain fields. For example it is very unlikely that I would make a good brain surgeon probably not the area that I should be working in. But that doesn't mean I cannot look at other areas where I can put my energies into. So while identifying limitations they should serve only as guidance towards each individual. It should never be something that should stop people realising their dreams and excel in their chosen field. I will conclude here by once again applauding the progress that we have made in the past commending my colleagues across the chamber to see the potential in disabled people and to realise their dreams and to help to facilitate them as we come out of the worst 18 months many of us have faced and look forward to a brighter better future. Michael Cain, who will be followed by Maggie Chapman. Four minutes, Mr O'Cain. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am pleased to be able to contribute to today's debate. Indeed, as convener of the cross-party group on learning disability I want to thank my colleague and friend Pam Duncan-Glansay for securing this debate as we mark the international day of disabled people tomorrow. I also want to pay a wider tribute to Ms Duncan-Glansay for all the work that she has done over many years and indeed already in the short time that she has served in this Parliament. On this 2021 international day of disabled people it is important to recognise that the chamber looks different since the last international day was marked in 2020. Parliament has changed to become more diverse and to increase the number of MSPs who identify as having a disability. May I praise Daniel Johnson, my colleague and friend again for his very powerful and personal speech on speaking your own truth every day and whether that is in this Parliament or anywhere else. It is a very brave and important thing to do not only for yourself but for other people as well. Jeremy Balfour's advice on that is very solid. Speak the truth even if your voice shakes. Jeremy Balfour made a characteristically powerful speech also and he was a great help to me in a formal role as secretary of the cross-party group in the last Parliament. Of course this Parliament includes our first of our permanent wheelchair user in Pandurg and Glancy and I want to quote some of Ms Duncan-Glancy's made-in-speech. She said, for too long this Parliament and others like it have not looked like the people that it is here to represent but this year is different. The people of Scotland broke glass ceilings and glass staircases in this room and it is now our chance to turn a little hope into lasting change because this is the room where it happens. Those are powerful words and worth recalling today because we know that we have much more to do to make our Parliament look like our country and to ensure that the voices of disabled people are heard and listened to as we... Certainly. I'm grateful for the member. Would the member agree with me that often the Parliament has to change but it's our own political parties across six parties within this Parliament that need to change? I would certainly agree with Jeremy Balfour on that point and all of us in political life have a duty within our political parties to find the ways that we can encourage more people from a diversity of backgrounds to join our political life because very often politics is off-putting for people because there are barriers there about how we deal with one another how we respond to one another and very much so I think that political parties have a role to play and a bigger role to play and I hope that we all take cognisance of that. You know decisions that we make in this place impact the lives of disabled people every day, of their families and of their communities and I want to focus my remaining time on this year's theme which is fighting for the rights in the post Covid area of leadership for too many disabled people the past 20 months have been an absolute battle to have their rights upheld, protected and advanced too many have seen care and support removed with little or no consultation too many have been cut off from family, friends and their social life many have been pushed further into poverty and tragically six in ten deaths from Covid-19 have been those who are disabled and we know that people haven't felt consulted, engaged or involved when Covid-19 regulations have changed and I reflect on my own experience of working to support people who have learning disabilities and their families in the first lockdown regulations didn't always fit the many complex and different challenges people experience on a daily basis the fact that autistic children couldn't visit the beach that they go to every week which for them is a haven because it was in a different local authority just down the road many people didn't feel able to engage and understand in what was being asked of us all because of a lack of accessible formats like easy reads and for too many, far too many their lives were viewed as worthless as blanket approaches to do not resuscitate was taken and I must commend my colleague Jackie Baillie the former convener of the cross-party group and the vice convener former MSP Joan McAlpine for bringing that matter to the forum in the last Parliament and there are still serious questions which remain to be answered Deputy Presiding Officer I will conclude by looking forward a single day of awareness, raising and celebration of the problems that disabled people face we must learn the lessons of the past 20 months and we must do more and we must always ensure that the voices of disabled people ring loud and clear in all of our considerations in this place and beyond thank you I now call on Maggie Chapman who joins us remotely who will be followed by Christine Grahame thank you I thank Pam Duncan-Glancy for securing this debate to discuss what more we can do and there is much more we should do to ensure that Scotland achieves equality for every single one of the 20% of Scots who are disabled I also want to thank all those individuals and organisations who provide support advocacy and so much more to disabled people across Scotland households with a disabled person experience a relative poverty rate 6% higher than the general population disabled Scots are less than half as likely to be employed as non-disabled people In 2020-21 disability hate crime not including crimes going unreported rose 14% and they have risen by over 600% since 2010 and the Scottish household survey tells us that disabled people are more than twice as likely to experience loneliness as non-disabled people these facts say a lot about the depth and breadth of disability inequality in Scotland in almost every way it is brought to think of disabled people can be and are discriminated against overlooked and disadvantaged for too long disabled people have borne the brunt of cuts to our social security system just a few weeks ago tens of thousands of unemployed disabled Scots living on low incomes had 20 pounds a week cut from the universal credit payment but with about one in 10 Scots claiming one of the devolved as a truly golden opportunity to advance equality for disabled people our social security system in Scotland is built on the idea that social security is an investment indeed the Scottish Fiscal Commission projects that spending on the new adult disability payment will eventually be over half a billion pounds it also predicts an extra 40 million pounds of consequential payments to carers for disabled people it is absolutely right that this happens and I am proud that Greens were central to this but getting to this point has taken years of campaigning by disabled people by organisations that represent them to highlight the damage done by PIP and other cuts countless protests outside job centres hundreds of thousands of appeals hundreds of thousands of lives and so disabled people their voices and their experiences must be at the heart of our new system in particular the forthcoming review of disability benefits must be led by disability benefits recipients themselves and leave nothing that might increase support and access to support off the table before I close I would like to touch on the impact of climate change on disabled people last year the UN published a landmark study into the impact of climate change on disabled people presenting evidence that disabled people are more likely to be left behind during evacuations and emergency information is not always accessible earlier this year extreme heat in Canada for huge numbers of people with mental health conditions being treated for and some savvy dying of heat stroke as drugs used to treat certain mental health conditions can cause reduced heat tolerance worldwide disabled people experience poverty at more than twice the rate of non-disabled people and we know it is the world's poorest people who experience the most severe impact of climate change yet the Glasgow climate pack contains just a single parting reference to disabled people inclusion Scotland which organised the first ever disability focus debate at a COP summit said the agreement was and I quote very disappointing in relation to active involvement and participation of disabled people in climate action without proper involvement of disabled people well-intentioned measures to tackle climate change plans to build a new society attempts to properly support vulnerable people will further marginalise those who need the support most we must ensure that in all we do disabled people are front and centre with their voices heard not just in debates like today or on the international day of disabled people tomorrow but every day thank you thank you Ms Chapman and now Colin Christine Graham who will be followed by the final speaker in the open debate Monica Lennon thank you Deputy Presiding Officer Ashley Pamela Duncan Glancy securing this timious debate a force to be reckoned with and thank goodness I note we've come a long way since the Oxford English dictionary of disability as quotes a person who's unable to walk or move properly through disability because of injury to their back or legs that was first used as long as 950 AD today under the equality act 2010 you're disabled if you have a physical or mental impairment that has substantial or long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities that recognises as does the motion that many disabilities are invisible many decades ago when I was a secondary teacher I don't think we are aware of issues like autism we might have had autistic children in the class behaving strange we had no idea I have to confess however I find the term disabled comfortably with me as it can be construed as having pejorative undertones and I don't know how we move away from that but there have been improvements in my lifetime in the perception and the provision for those with impairments not simply though importantly in the equipment to assist but in recognising the importance indeed the obligation to ensure it's a level playing field for work and life at large not just talking access and hearing loops but seeing beyond the disability to the person it's not many decades ago when our society hid some with disabilities even locked them up and certainly did not go out of its way to make accommodations and there are too many parts of the world where it is still a struggle even to Keynesian but I'll start with this building which during this construction those with impairments were in at the beginning so we have braille signs disabled access almost to some of the lift locations and I'm sure the member has found this out simply in daff places ramp access in the chamber had to be adapted but we have a hearing loop system though I recall as I say some alterations had to be made even after the Parliament was built regarding the selection of candidates for this place certainly in the SNP those with disabilities are not disadvantaged are indeed encouraged to go forward as candidates and on our regional list system we ensured that if any was on that list with a disability they automatically went to the top and I'm not talking patronising because I absolutely agree with everything that the member said regarding there's not to be patronising what there has to be is a system to just fulfil their potential whatever it is I want to remind you however we and Dennis Robertson in here with his wonderful dog Mr Q staff fought over the right to walk him even had his own pass and will be tied you if your speech was boring because Mr Q had a very loud snore bigger than any critique from other candidates I want to talk about change in perceptions briefly I recall an episode of Frost the detective series when two young actors with down syndrome portrayed a couple with down syndrome falling in love and wanting to get married and the prejudices that exposed for parents and for society at large I think that had a big impact again Brian Whittle mentioned the Paralympics which I've spoken in before I think that's made a difference to perceptions of disabilities when some folk would turn away from looking at amputee it's quite ordinary now and I believe that it's had a lasting impact in particular I believe for children who share these disabilities then lastly strictly come dancing mentioned at FMQs when at which I confess I watch Whiskey and the Cat that's my Saturday night sad story but I saw Rose-Alan Ellis dancing so beautifully that I clean forgot she's deaf as a result huge increase in those wishing to learn to sign and what an inspiration to others with a similar impairment conclusion politicians yes can change life for those with disabilities policies, legislation and these are important but in my book it's those popular programmes and events which give that extra push to equality and change societal perceptions thank you thank you miss Graham I can confirm that Mr Q's sedentary interventions were perhaps explicable but I'm not convinced either I call on Monica Lennon the final speaker in the open debate around four minutes miss Lennon thank you I also want to congratulate Pam Duncan Glancy on securing this debate I'm really pleased that the Parliament has the opportunity to recognise the UN international day of disabled people 2021 which we know falls tomorrow and because I'm the last to speak in the open debate it's really excellent and a whole range of issues have been covered so I've been scoring out things that I was going to say because they've been said already but I'm going to add a further few issues and I think the cabinet secretary will be busy after today speaking to lots of colleagues because we can see already that the issues being raised are very much cross cutting and we do need to have a joined up approach not just for the Government but for all employers in agencies and others across Scotland at the start I will declare an interest in this debate as the patient of disability equality Scotland a voluntary role that I'm very honoured to hold so I want to maybe talk about a couple of things that maybe haven't been fully covered today toilets I want to mention toilets disability equality Scotland poll their members every week and their membership has increased during the pandemic 95 per cent of disabled people responding to the recent disability equality Scotland survey to say that they have changed their plans because there are just no suitable toilets available so if that doesn't spell out exclusion I don't know what does I want to pay tribute to former MSP colleague Mary Fee and also Jeremy Balfour for all the great work they did in the last session to champion changing place toilets I know the government has announced in the last term more funding which is really welcome but from looking at my inbox people want to see more delivery and more changing place toilets rolled out so I think that's important work to bear in mind also I'm going to talk about transport but linked to toilets one of the respondents to the recent disability equality Scotland poll said that lack of suitable accessible toilets on long distance buses is a real issue in Scotland saying the worst defenders are long distance bus operators toilets on those buses are useless that's a direct quote also others saying rural areas where a hospital appointment journey can take several hours not having access to a suitable toilet is obviously a real problem there and in restaurants and in some pubs accessible toilets are still being used for storage cleaning products are being kept there and then taken out when a disabled person wants to use the toilet and then put back in that's really offensive today's debate really is about dignity and human rights so we need to do better than that on transport and I suppose town planning another issue close to my heart and really about access to the built more widely disability equality Scotland again do really important work on access panels access panels for those who don't know are groups of disabled volunteers who work together to improve physical access and wider social inclusion in their local communities during the scrutiny of the planning bill in the last session some of us tried to get a statutory recognition for access panels in the planning process I think that that is work that still needs to be looked at by the Government but again that's also about access to inclusive communication so that discussions with planners and also with transport providers is fully accessible there's about two seconds left the other tea I wanted to mention was around treatment and access to healthcare in particular for chronic pain patients who feel that their care has been further deep prioritised in the pandemic hidden disabilities like migraine we really need to improve treatment and just finally in conclusion in their briefing to members Inclusion Scotland have said that policy and decision makers and service providers have the best resource possible to get things right that is disabled people we've heard today disabled people know what is needed they know what works and what doesn't it's responsibility all of us to listen and to make sure that we break down those barriers we get that system change and I hope that both this Government and this Parliament will be ambitious and bold to deliver that system change that disabled people require thank you I call on Sona Robison to respond to the debate cabinet secretary around seven minutes please thank you very much and can I join others by thanking Pam Duncan-Glancy for securing this debate and to all the members who have taken part in what I think has been a really good debate and for sharing views and aims for the future suggestions all important ahead of this year's international day of persons with disabilities and as mentioned the international day this year focuses on the importance of the leadership and participation of disabled people for an inclusive, fair, accessible and sustainable post Covid world and it's encouraging as others have said to see that this Parliament itself is more diverse than in previous sessions as noted by Jeremy Balfour and also Paul O'Kane who also reminded us though that there is more to do to ensure that this Parliament truly looks like Scotland and this is a key moment for us to recognise Scotland's own champions for disabled people's rights equality inclusion members in here who have done a tremendous job of breaking down barriers and showing what can be done but also disabled people's organisations who play a vital role in representing the diverse views and experiences of disabled people across the country in urban, rural, highland and island communities and this has been particularly crucial during the pandemic which has had considerable impacts on disabled people thanks to all those working in the DPOs and the wider third sector for their invaluable contribution to supporting people during this very difficult time and the Scottish Government is listening to disabled people's lived experiences and trying to work to ensure that collectively we build resilience in our communities so that disabled people can realise their rights in their lives and Pam Duncan Glancy was right to say that people with disabilities should be around the table and I agree with that we don't always get it right and I think it's important though that we must one of the foundation stones of this approach will of course be our new human rights bill which will bring the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into Scots law and this will place a greater impetus on public bodies to remove barriers and support disabled people to fully participate in society and I think will help to empower disabled people enabling them to claim and importantly enforce their rights and this follows the work that we did in the previous Parliament in taking the convention as the blueprint for our Fairer Scotland for Disabled People delivery plan our next plan for action which will publish by the end of 2022 and it will reflect on what has and hasn't worked so far as we progress towards the Scotland where the convention is meaningful in communities, services and opportunities and through our equality human rights fund we will invest £21 million in funding over three years to advance human rights, promote equality and tackle discrimination with over £5 million of this funding going to disability focused projects and organisations now as is important mentioned about the disability employment gap and we are committed to reducing that by at least half before 2038 now real progress had been made before the pandemic but the disruption of Covid-19 slowed the pace of change so we're working with disabled people's organisations and importantly employers to reinvigorate this programme of work and we'll also establish a scheme to tackle the barriers faced by disabled people who wish to take on leadership positions empowering more people to fulfil their potential as others have mentioned the role of our social security system is important and it's important that it treats people with dignity and respect and the redesign mentioned by Marie McNair is important the fact that it involved disabled people in that redesign was critical and of course we will be piloting our new adult disability payment early next year to replace PIP and the new initiative will be trialled as part of our transformation of disability assistance during which we'll transfer the entitlements of nearly 700,000 existing disability and carer benefits clients from the UK government systems to Social Security Scotland a big thing in itself a massive undertaking and as a first step in July we launched our new child disability payment in three pilot areas to provide vital support to 38,000 children and their families in the next financial year alone and of course we'll double the Scottish child payment in April of next year and as well as building people's economic resilience we have to ensure that disabled people have access to the right support and care and that again has been mentioned by a number of members we know there's a lot more to do to ensure that everyone can rely on having access to the right care and the right place at the right time so we'll continue to engage with disabled people's organisations as we start to build the new national care service which I think has the potential to revolutionise the delivery of support to people when they need it most Monica Lennon also mentioned accessible toilets she mentioned we're investing £10 million to increase the number of changing places toilets across the country including mobile facilities at events and outdoor venues and facilities that meet our needs are something that most of us take for granted and fully accessible toilets of course are important for dignity, confidence and peace of mind so there is more to do in that area. I just want to mention briefly young people and importantly the young persons guarantee we want to make sure that disabled young people get access to that and we're wanting to help to connect more than a thousand disabled young people to fair work, education and other activities and of course we've made a commitment to introduce Scotland's first national transitions to adulthood strategy in this parliamentary term to ensure there's a joined up approach and a course note Pam Duncan Glancy's proposed bill on disabled children and young people's transitions into adulthood and of course we share the same ambition for improved outcomes and are supportive of the intentions of the bill and we're engaging with Pam Duncan Glancy around that and met just yesterday as part of that. I also just want to end with a couple of reflections I thought Daniel Johnson's speech was a very very powerful one and actually recognised that many people in Scotland live with unseen or hidden disabilities including autistic people and people with a range of disabilities for whom there are particularly stark inequalities and that's why we've committed to a dedicated programme of work detailed in the learning disabilities and autism towards transformation plan and part of this commitment includes our work over this parliamentary term to introduce a dedicated learning disability, autism and neurodiversity bill just to close Deputy Presiding Officer I'm just taking a moment to appreciate the crucial role of our allies in the journey to disability equality all of those who have shared their lived experience colleagues in this Parliament in creating much needed change that societal change that Christine Grahame talked about for all disabled people in acting as role models real role models and inspirational leaders and we thank them for that Thank you very much that concludes the debate in the Parliament until 2.30