(For official use only) PUBLIC PETITION NO. PE1069

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NAME OF PRINCIPAL PETITIONER:

Clive McGrory

TEXT OF PETITION: The petition should clearly state what action the petitioner wishes the Parliament to take in no more than 5 lines of text, e.g. “Petition by John Smith, on behalf of Edinburgh Community Council, calling for the to consider and debate the need for new legislation to tackle anti-social behaviour.”

Petition by Clive McGrory calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to encourage employers to provide home working opportunities for those with disabilities which prevent them from accessing the workplace.

ACTION TAKEN TO RESOLVE ISSUES OF CONCERN BEFORE SUBMITTING PETITION: Before submitting a petition to the Parliament, petitioners are expected to have made an attempt to resolve their issues of concern by, for example, making representations to the Scottish Executive or seeking the assistance of locally elected representatives, such as councillors, MSPs and MPs. Please provide a summary of the action you have taken to resolve your issue of concern including details of elected representatives you have approached.

Have contacted several Charity Organisations, Governmental and Non-Governmental organisations such as Careers Scotland, The DWP, The DTI, The First Minister’s Office (then Jack McConnell), and all major political parties. Have met with from the Scottish Nationalist Party who was quite keen to assist at the time, but who didn’t bother to reply to my last communication so I imagine that she is also ‘too busy’ with other things. Have also met with Cathy Peattie, Labour MSP for Falkirk East, who has not only taken an interest, but periodically has kept in touch and has promised to attempt to speak on my behalf in the parliament, and to canvas employers with whom she has contact. I sought the assistance of the First Minister’s office, but the reply I received indicated that my correspondence had either not been read properly, or was not entirely understood for what it was, and therefore, the reply was of no use. I attempted to contact the Minister for the Disabled in Westminster, but did not receive a reply.

1 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Provide any additional information relevant to your petition and set out the reasons why you consider the action requested to be necessary. This information will be made available to Members of the Committee prior to its consideration of your petition and should be limited to no more than 4 sides of A4. If you wish to use the e- petitioner system your additional information will be posted on the web page with your petition and you may provide further sources/links to background information.

In reading the report from the Equal Opportunities Commission, only once was home working mentioned, and that was in the context of starting a home business, something which a lot of us are not able to do for a variety of reasons, (and not necessarily simply financial). If the Parliament would stop and consider the financial implications alone, it would see that potentially, millions of pounds could be saved from benefits payments and would even gain as if we were able to work, we would be paying our own taxes and NI contributions. Not only that, but the social implications for the disabled would also be tremendous.

Consider the fact that we would feel an integral part of the community, able to earn a living instead of relying on benefits. Consider the fact that we would not always have to count the pennies but would have a quality of life, being able to afford to pay the bills and have potentially have something left over at the end of the week. Consider the benefit to employers who, under the present system, must employ a quota of disabled people, and in doing so, have to provide facilities within the workplace. Employers would still be able to meet any quotas thrust upon them, but would save in the fact that such special facilities/equipment would not have to be purchased. Consider the fact that everyone stands to gain and nobody would lose, except that the subject appears too difficult for government and non-government agencies alike to get involved in.

Agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions just insist that you go to Job Centre plus who, when you approach them, haven’t got a clue where to start because they have never had to deal with this topic before. Careers Scotland are so in the dark about the subject that I was able to supply them with more information than they were able to give me. The Department for Trade and Industry just put you round in circles until you end up with the department you contacted in the first place, and then when they promise to get back to you, fail to keep that promise. For the most part, the major political parties simply ignore your correspondence, (with exception of the Labour Party and Scottish Nationalist Party, although my last correspondence with their representative went ignored as well). To date I have only one MSP, Cathy Peattie, who is prepared to speak on my behalf. Why? Even my correspondence to the Minister for the Disabled in Westminster went unheeded! Isn’t this part of their mandate to oversee disability issues?

So far, all I have been quoted from various people is the so called ‘New Deal’. That’s really going to work for us who cannot work in the workplace isn’t it? Charity Organisations either cannot help or simply do not deal with employment issues. The DWP even suggested I contacted employers direct, informing them that under the Disability Discrimination Act, they could be held accountable under the ‘reasonable provision’ section. I cannot imagine any employer who would not think that you were merely seeking to take advantage of the DDA if you went down this route, and word

2 would soon spread which would make finding work impossible under any circumstances. To date, no organisation has had the knowledge or expertise to tackle this issue or it would be too difficult for them to contemplate getting involve because it would mean having to start from scratch and would therefore be both time consuming and possibly manpower intensive in the first instance, possibly even meaning the introduction of a brand new department.

Such government organisations as I have contacted, have, on further research, neither the manpower, the funding, or the knowledge to entertain going down this route. Because of this, it would necessitate short term funding from the Scottish Parliament to set this in motion. As I have stated, however, the long term savings would be worthwhile.

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E-PETITION: Before submitting a petition formally to the Parliament, petitioners may wish to use the Parliament’s e-petition system to promote their petition. The system allows a petition to be hosted on the parliament’s website (http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/) for an agreed period, providing an opportunity to attract a wider audience and gather more names in support of the petition. Each e-petition has its own discussion forum, where visitors and supporters can discuss and debate the petition and related issues. When the agreed period for hosting a petition on-line ends, the petition is formally submitted to the Public Petitions Committee for consideration in the usual way. Should you wish to use this system please provide the further information requested below. Please note, if you wish to make use of the e-petition system, you should submit your completed template by e-mail to the address provided below. Do you wish your petition to be hosted on the Parliament’s website as an e-petition?

YES X NO

If “Yes” please enter a closing date for gathering signatures on your petition, (we would usually recommend a period of around 6 weeks; please also provide at least one comment to set the scene for an on-line discussion on the petition, not exceeding 10 lines of text.

CLOSING DATE:

24 August 2007

COMMENTS TO STIMULATE ON-LINE DISCUSSION: Please provide at least one comment to set the scene for an on-line discussion on the petition, not exceeding 10 lines of text.

Why is it that both governmental and non-governmental organisations are loathe to take this subject on board, especially in the light of potential financial savings and possible financial gains? Why is it that employers have never even considered us as a potential new source of recruitment, and in doing so could also save themselves both time and expense?

EMAIL ADDRESS: Please provide an email address which will be published on the e-petition site. [email protected]

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