A new bill aiming to support disabled children and young people through the transition into adulthood has been introduced into the Scottish parliament by Labour MSP, Pam Duncan-Glancy.

Pam Duncan-Glancy told healthandcare.scot that all of the information and statistics we have on aspirations, further education and employment for young disabled people show that the current support in place is not enough. She says this is why leglisation is needed in Scotland, as her Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill begins its parliamentary process.

The bill places a duty on Scottish ministers to prepare, publish and implement a strategy to improve transitions, which is to be reviewed every three years.

A second duty is placed on local authorities to create individual transition plans for each disabled child and young person. These national transition plans must include a statement of the child’s needs from before their 16^th birthday, or when their disability is first diagnosed after their 16th birthday, until they are 26 years old.

Plans must also detail the care and support required to address these needs and should be in development from the young person’s 14^th birthday when possible. Pam Duncan-Glancy explained the importance of connecting services in Scotland within this process:

“The plans require colleges, universities, schools, social work services, housing, employment services and the government to all coordinate and work together on a young persons' plan. And it's that coordinating function that I think is seriously lacking.”

Heather Fisken from Inclusion Scotland, an organisation focused on positive changes in policy and practice for disabled people that co-developed the bill, says it will drive much-needed changes for this transitory period and have a wide-reaching positive impact. She explained:

“Without the right support, at the right time, and in the right way, disabled young people will continue to be unfairly excluded[...] Moving the support for inclusion and participation in transitioning from child to adulthood smoothly from A to B is not yet legislated for.”

Ms Fisken said that disabled young people face “a whole new raft of institutional barriers” in their transition to adult services, which can be stressful, time-consuming and exhausting.

Previously introduced in 2019, the bill was re-introduced last week with the same core aims, created in collaboration with Inclusion Scotland and Camphill Scotland.

Heather Fisken outlined that although young people’s aspirations may be the same, disabled and non-disabled young people face different barriers in this transitory period and by 26, disabled people are more likely to be unemployed, feel hopeless and agree that ‘nothing I do makes any difference’. She added:

“This new bill offers an alternative – a National Strategy and individual plans which must be delivered on. It gives disabled children and young people, and Disabled People’s Organisations (ran by disabled people themselves) a say in the National Strategy – by law.”

The bill calls for wide-ranging consultation in preparation of these plans and a review of the implementation every three years, assessing how successful local authorities and MSPs have been in their provision.

Heather Fisken said current provisions are not enough: “There are many good Scottish policy intentions but there is an implementation gap between this and what happens in practice.”

She added that the focus now must be passing the bill and effectively delivering the outcomes disabled children and young people are entitled to:

“It needs strong organisational leadership at the implementation stage and beyond so that it embeds into public policy and practice, and the impetus is not lost.”

Previous financial estimations for the intial bill introduced in 2019 were questioned by stakeholders – including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) – in consultations returned in 2021.

Pam Duncan-Glancy’s introduction includes a Financial Memorandum which states that preparation and implementation costs are not anticipated to rise above £31,250 per local authority per year.

She said that the estimates are based on the best evidence available so far to meet the needs of each disabled young person in a local authority, adding:

“One of the things I was really clear on, and I spoke to COSLA at length about, is not setting COSLA or schools up to do something they can't afford to do.

“What we need is something that's got the budget behind it that it requires - and that's why our Financial Memorandum is robust [...] And it will fluctuate, because disabled people's lives fluctuate.”

Consultations on this new bill are expected soon, and Inclusion Scotland has highlighted the need for continued involvement of disabled people in designing, monitoring and evaluating the outcomes. Pam Duncan-Glancy added:

“These collaborations are essential, no one person has the wisdom and that includes all 129 MSPs. I'm a disabled person, so I have one perspective - I know how it affected me. But I don't know how it will affect every disabled person. 

“I really want to give disabled people a fighting chance at a future and we can only do it if we get this right. I want the bill to go through the scrutiny it needs to. I'm open to all suggestions to improve it - whether that's from these organisations or from the opposition.”

Read more: Disability bill passes first parliamentary hurdle; New rights bill for young disabled Scots; Scotland failing deaf and disabled

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