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The Scottish Governmentwill take forward its commitment to improved social inclusion for disabled peoplethrough the delivery of its five strategic objectives and overarching purpose, whichcommit all public services to creating a fairer Scotland with opportunities for all Scots to flourish through increasing sustainableeconomic growth.

A number of policiesand programmes act to deliver this commitment in relation to disabled people. Forillustration, disabled people mare a priority group for all seven of the targetareas for the Workforce Plus employability framework, and the Scottish Governmentdirectly supports a programme run by the Child Poverty Action Group to enhance theprovision of high-quality advice on the tax credits and benefits to families affectedby disability.

The Scottish Governmentis committed to consultation and engagement with disabled people. We currently funda number of national disability led organisations to assist us with this. We regardthis as an important feature of our work and will want to continue to provide support.

The public sectorduty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people, which came into forcein December 2006, provides an opportunity for public bodies to focus on the needsof disabled people and develop work on independent living. The duty also provides a reporting frameworkfor progress towards disability equality with the first annual reports due in December2007. This may provide some measure of the progress being made towards independentliving.

However, the ScottishGovernment is also considering what further steps need to be taken to advance independentliving in Scotland, and how performance can be measured mosteffectively, and we will announce our plans later in the year.

The public sectorduty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people, which came into forcein December 2006, provides an opportunity for public bodies to focus on the needsof disabled people and develop work on independent living. Other recent initiativesalso support independent living such as the new national guidance on self-directedsupport, which was issued in July, and tasks local authorities with developing localinfrastructures in order to increase uptake.

However, the ScottishGovernment recognises the specific references to independent living in work carriedout by the Disability Rights Commission and by the Scottish Parliament’s Equal OpportunitiesCommittee and is currently considering what further steps need to be taken to advanceindependent living in Scotland and we will announce our plans later in the year.

The Scottish Governmentis aware of the calls for national measures to promote positive attitudes towardsdisabled people which were made in the Equal Opportunities Committee’s DisabilityInquiry Report Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities (November2006), in the Disability Working Group’s report (November 2006). These reportswill inform our consideration of what steps need to be taken to further promotedisability equality and advance independent living in Scotland and we will announceour plans later in the year.

The Scottish Governmentis committed to creating a fairer, wealthier Scotland and will work towards this end through delivery of its five strategic objectivesand overarching purpose. It will help to address income inequality between disabledand non-disabled people through the provision of a number of policies and programmes,from the promotion of disability equality to the Workforce Plus employability framework,which seeks to maximize opportunities to access good quality sustainable employmentfor the most disadvantaged in relation to the labour market, including disabledpeople.

The Scottish Governmentis committed to equality of opportunity for disabled people and is keen to ensurethat disabled people and disability organisations receive support and informationthat meets their needs.

Wecurrently support the work of a number of national disability organisations to helpus to improve the flow of information to disabled people and disability organisations.For example, the Scottish Government funds a number of organisations to publicisethe availability of direct payments for self-directed support including UPDATE,(Scotland’s National Disability Information Service), the Scottish Personal AssistantEmployers Network (SPAEN) which provides information and support to those individualsinterested in employing personal assistants, the Scottish Consortium of Direct PaymentSupport Organisations (SCDPSO) which provides a forum for direct payments supportorganisations throughout Scotland to work together, and Contact a Family Scotlandfor a direct payments information service.

We are happy to lookat how we further improve the flow of information and will continue to explore thiswith disabled people and disability organisations.

The Humanitarian Health Fund is part of the International Development Fund. The Fund and Policy are presently under review as a conversation takes place to assess the most strategic way forward for Scotland’s investment in international development. Decisions as to the nature and totality of the funding for future grants will be made in accordance with the review outcomes.

Some legislative rights,for example, those relating to employment and benefits, are contained in legislationreserved to Westminster.

In the Scottish context,Scottish ministers are considering what steps need to be taken to advance independentliving in Scotland and we will announce our plans later in theyear.

The resources released from the closure of continuing care inpatient beds at the Jeannie Deans will be used to develop and enhance community care services that will improve access to local services enabling older people to stay within their homes for as long as possible. These include preventative, anticipatory and rehabilitative care; increased rapid intervention to prevent admission and support early discharge, and increased access to respite and day care.