1.  Disability Scotland aims to be the national representative voice of the disability equality movement in Scotland. We undertake information exchange, policy development and joint action to achieve the full inclusion of disabled people in society.

  2.  Disability Scotland and its predecessors has been host to the Access Committee for Scotland since that committee's formation in 1969 and has a Leisure and Arts Committee which has existed in several guises since 1980.

  3.  We have had no formal role in advising the Heritage Lottery Fund on any aspect of its work. We have, however, had a role in advising the Scottish Arts Council in distributing Lottery funds.

  4.  We believe that access for disabled people is fundamental to their participation in the life of the community and we welcomed the Government's determination that Lottery funded projects should be available to all members of the community.

  5.  We believe, then, that access should be a condition of funding. Projects applying for funding should be required to demonstrate that access for disabled people is included in their project. Funding bodies should develop criteria to ensure that this requirement is met and that applicants have undertaken appropriate consultation. There are statutory requirements laid down in the Scottish Building Standards.

  6.  In addition, there are a number of publications which offer guidance. These include the Museums and Gallery Commission's publication "Disability Resource Directory for Museums", the National Museums of Scotland's "Designing Exhibitions to Include People with Disabilities: A Practical Guide" and the BT Countryside for All Manual. The INTACT Trust is about to publish the findings of its two-year project and we believe this will also be very valuable.

  7.  We are satisfied with the outcome of our work with the Scottish Arts Council on their National Lottery Funding criteria and that it has worked to the benefit of disabled people in Scotland. I enclose this criteria12[14] and suggest it may be useful to the Committee.

June 1998