Nearly 10% of Scotland's Local Councillors Have Disabilities
By Kay Schriner (kays@uark.edu)
The Disability Rights Commission of Scotland reports that 9.8% of local authority Councillors identify themselves as having a disability. This compares to the 20% disability rate among Scots generally.
The percentage was higher among male Councillors than female Councillors: 10.4% of men reported they were disabled, while only 6.4% of women Councillors said they had a disability.
The proportion of people with disabilities among appointed officials was much lower. In a three-year period ending March 31, 2001, only 6 individuals of the 633 appointed during that time had disabilities.
Voters in Scotland still face many barriers to political participation. The report finds that only 27% of polling places have at least one polling station without any barriers to physical accessibility.
The report was prepared by Sheila Riddell and Pauline Banks at the University of Glasglow, and can be found at www.drc-gb.org.
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