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Glossary

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  • “Access to Elected Office Fund”

    The Access to Elected Office Fund (Scotland) offers financial assistance to disabled people who are seeking selection or have already been selected to fully participate in the political process. This will enable them to stand in Local Authority and Scottish Parliament elections, including by-elections.

  • “Additional Support for Learning”

    The Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 set duties for education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those affected by deafness.  Additional support needs can be of short or long-term duration and can occur for any reason. Duties under the Act can apply from under the age of 3 to the point at which a young person leaves school.

  • “Best Start, Bright Futures”

    Best Start, Bright Futures is the Scottish Government’s second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, covering the period 2022-26. The plan outlines action to strengthen Scotland’s offer to families, focusing on steps to reduce costs of living and increase income from employment and from social security and benefits in kind. The plan takes a holistic, person-centred approach and calls for all parts of society to play their part in tackling child poverty.

  • “BSL Justice Advisory Group”

    This group was convened by the Scottish Government as part of our previous commitment within the BSL National Plan 2017 – 2023, and consists of multiple organisations from the justice, academic and third sector. The group provides a form of governance on justice-related work around BSL.

  • “BSL users”

    Throughout the plan, we refer to ‘BSL users’. This covers all people whose first or preferred language is BSL, including those who receive the language in a tactile form due to sight loss. We also accept that the majority of BSL users are deaf and deafblind, as well as the fact that there are many deaf and deafblind people who do not use BSL. This plan will differentiate where appropriate whether an action is applicable to those who do not use BSL.

  • “Christie Commissions Principles”

    The Christie Commission was a commission on the future delivery of public services in Scotland. Its report in 2011 set out how public services need to reform so they remain sustainable and best support better outcomes and reduced inequalities. The commission’s recommendations included an emphasis on four key principles or pillars around participation, performance, partnership, and the prevention of harm.

  • “Contact Scotland BSL”

    The Scottish Government funds the Contact Scotland BSL online interpreting Video Relay Service, which enables deaf and deafblind British Sign Language (BSL) users to telephone, via video relay interpreters, private sector numbers as well as statutory and third sector numbers, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

  • “COSLA”

    The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities is a councillor-led, cross-party organisation that works in partnership with councils, Scottish Government and UK Government.

  • “Culture Strategy for Scotland”

    The Culture Strategy for Scotland was published in February 2020. It sets out a vision and series of aims that recognise the value of culture and its power to inspire, enrich and transform our lives and our communities.

    The Culture Strategy was developed to outline and reinforce the Scottish Government’s commitment to culture and creativity. Its aims include Strengthening Culture, transforming through Culture, and Empowering through Culture. This strategy will develop the conditions and skills for culture to thrive, placing culture as a central consideration across policy areas, and recognising each community’s own local cultures. The strategy can be found here.

  • “Deaf”

    This word is used to refer to people who are unable to hear and includes those who view themselves as culturally deaf.

  • “Deafblind”

    This is the term used to refer to people who are both deaf and have sight loss.

  • “General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS)”

    The independent registration and regulation body for the teaching profession in Scotland.

  • “Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)”

    Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) provides Scotland with a consistent framework and shared language for promoting, supporting and safeguarding the wellbeing of our children and young people.

    It underpins all Scottish Government policies which support children, young people and their families. It is locally embedded and positively embraced by organisations, services and practitioners across Children’s Services Planning Partnerships; and draws focus to changing cultures, systems and practice for the benefit of babies, infants, children, young people and their families.

  • “Justice System”

    The justice system is the terminology commonly used to encompass the civil, criminal and juvenile systems- and organisation’s include Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland, and Scotland Children’s Reporter Administration.

  • “Listed Authorities”

    Public bodies that are listed within the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 within the Schedule, introduced by Section 6(1) of the Act. Public bodies that are listed within the Plan are required to publish their own BSL plans within 6 months after the publication of the Scottish Government’s BSL National Plan.

  • “Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy”

    The Scottish Government published a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy jointly with COSLA on 29th June 2023. The Strategy is evidence-based, informed by lived experience, and underpinned by equality and human rights.

    It focuses on outcomes and is driven by data and intelligence. The scope of the Strategy is wider than our previous work in this space, with an increasing focus on wellbeing and prevention. We have also considered how the Strategy can take account of social factor and inequalities that may impact a person’s mental health and wellbeing. The Strategy sets out a clear vision for future population mental health, wellbeing and care, and our priorities to help us get there. Our vision is of a Scotland, free from stigma and inequality, where everyone fulfils their right to achieve the best mental health and wellbeing possible. This has been developed through collaboration with stakeholders, including people with lived experience.

  • “Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan”

    The Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan (Autumn 2023) ensures that commitments in our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy (June 2023) are underpinned by a resilient and sustainable workforce, that feel valued and supported to promote better mental health and wellbeing outcomes.  The Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan will look at the whole workforce journey and how we plan for, attract, train, employ and nurture our mental health and wellbeing workforce.

  • “National Care Service”

    The Scottish Government intends to introduce a National Care Service to provide national oversight which will improve the quality and consistency of integrated community health, social work and social care services that are delivered in local areas. The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament.

  • “National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET)”

    The National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), published in March 2022 set out our 10-year plan and priorities to achieve our vision of a wellbeing economy which delivers a fairer, greener economy for the people of Scotland.

  • “National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy”

    In the 2021 Programme for Government, Scottish Ministers committed to introducing a National Transition to Adulthood Strategy in this Parliamentary term. This will be a plan to improve the lived experiences of Scotland’s disabled young people as they make the transition to adulthood.

  • “No One Left Behind”

    No One Left Behind is designed to help people prepare for employment, training, education and/or volunteering. Through No One Left Behind, Scottish Government will deliver an approach to employability that is flexible, person-centred, and integrated and aligned with other key services including health, justice, housing provision and advice services.

  • “Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)”

    This is set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. It consists of a general equality duty, supported by specific duties which are imposed by secondary legislation, which aims to integrate considerations of the advancement of equality into the day-to-day business of public authorities.

  • “Public Service Reform Agenda”

    Shared commitment by Scottish Government and COSLA to reforming public services to ensure they are inclusive, sustainable, and effective in improving people’s outcomes.

  • “Recovering our Connections 2023-2026”

    The Scottish Government’s Social Isolation and Loneliness Delivery Plan to take forward the delivery of A Connected Scotland – a strategy for tackling social isolation and loneliness and building stronger social connections.

  • “Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)”

    The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is Scotland’s national qualifications framework. It provides a quality assured way of recognising, describing, and comparing the difficulty and ‘size’ of a whole range of qualifications and learning programmes (currently 10,500).

  • “Scottish Government Equality and Human Rights Fund”

    The Equality and Human Rights Fund supports projects that work to promote equality and tackling discrimination and prejudice. More information about the fund is available here.

  • “Scottish Specific Duties (SSDs)”

    This was created by secondary legislation in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012, then amended in 2015 and 2016. These duties are intended to help authorities listed in the regulations in their performance of the general equality duty.

  • “See Hear Strategy”

    The See Hear Strategy is the Scottish Government and COSLA strategy which shows their commitment to supporting children and adults who have deafness, sight loss and dual sensory loss to access the support and social care they need.

    The strategy was published in 2014, and after 10 years, a new version is being written. The Scottish Government’s Sensory Loss in Social Care Advisory group has agreed that the next See Hear strategy will focus on “Living a Good Life with Sensory Loss Challenges”. This means it will contain actions which will improve the lives of people with sight loss, hearing loss, deafness and deafblindness after those challenges have been identified.

  • “SignPort”

    SignPort is an app that has been developed in response to a challenge set through the Scottish Government’s Civtech programme: how might technology help match British Sign Language (BSL) users and their required interpreters more easily and equitably?

    The SignPort solution compromises both a mobile app to directly connect BSL users and interpreters, and an online portal to allow organisations and interpreting agencies to manage their bookings more efficiently. Both parts of the solution are fully integrated, supporting more effective deployment of interpreters across Scotland whilst giving BSL users more choice and control over their bookings, and improving their access to services. More information can be found here: SignPort

  • “The Arts”

    Examples of the arts are literature, performing arts and theatre, music, dance and photography.

  • “Transport Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework”

    The Transport Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework provides a national vision and outcomes for accessible travel and a high-level action plan to tackle the key issues facing disabled people. The vision is that ‘All disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens.’