A former member of the Scottish Government’s Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) has said that the decision to disband the body goes against the Government’s obligations in the Disability Discrimination Act and their own disability equality scheme.
Alan Rees, who is also the secretary of the Scottish Accessible Transport Alliance, said the decision “will reduce the voice of disabled people”.
Rees had been a member of MACS, created to advise Scottish ministers on the interests of disabled people in Scottish transport policy, since its creation in 2002.
He said: “The legislation says that disabled people should be consulted about the major decisions that concern them and before the First Minister announced [the body’s merger with The Public Transport Users’ Committee on January 30 in his statement on Effective Government] there wasn’t any consultation, it’s only been since.”
The merger with Passenger View Scotland will see the body’s 12 members increased to 15 with two members required to be disabled members, compared to a 50 per cent requirement of MACS members. He questioned whether the new arrangement could “handle the amount of issues because all transport policies have issues for disabled people as users.”
“It’s not just giving advice to ministers, it is also giving advice to the transport industry,” he added.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland and The Public Transport Users’ Committee (PTUC) are being brought together as part of the Effective Government Initiative. PTUC represents the interests of all transport users in Scotland. This move will remove duplication, simplify the structure and prevent activities that do not contribute to the Government’s objectives. This will positively reinforce the ability of disabled persons to bring accessibility and mobility issues directly to ministers’ attention.”
One person has commented on this article. 1. Abolition of transport disability body “will reduce voice of dis
Alan Rees, Unregistered The Scottish Accessible Transport Alliance (SATA) is a network of 70+ disability organisations and transport providers. Along with other representative bodies it is opposed to the dissolution of MACS which was uniquely established six years ago with an in-built majority of up to 15 disabled people to represent their interests and advise Scottish Ministers accordingly. The merger with PTUC will drastically reduce that representation what can be achieved. It has been done without proper consultation and largely for beaurocratic reasons. Is this the new face of 'effective government' in Scotland?
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