NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday addressed the SNP’s inaugural conference for disabled members, the first of its kind held by a political party in Scotland.
The First Minister spoke to around 170 delegates at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow, in a ground-breaking event aimed at encouraging more people with disabilities into politics.
Community empowerment minister Marco Biagi and mental health minister Jamie Hepburn also addressed the gathering, as did Holyrood’s first blind MSP Dennis Robertson.
Sturgeon used the occasion to urge councils to accept a deal on their 2016-17 budget, arguing it would help pay 40,000 social care workers a living wage of £8.25 an hour from October.
She said: “Our social care workers play an invaluable role in looking after the most vulnerable in our communities. Both the SNP Government and local authorities have a shared aspiration to see care workers paid a living wage, and that's why we have included funding to roll it out in our funding offer to councils.
"Delivering this landmark policy is a challenge for local government in the current financial circumstances - no one is pretending otherwise.
“But the offer from the Scottish Government will help meet that challenge.”
Councils have so far refused to sign up to the deal, which involves a £350m cut to their £10bn budget, and punitive sanctions if they try to raise council tax.
Robertson said: "For almost 200 people with disabilities to be gathering for the first disabled conference of any political party in Scotland is deeply inspiring - and represents a great opportunity to nurture skills, encourage debate and empower our disabled members.”
Conference organiser Jamie Szymkowiak added: “For many people, this will be their first political gathering and by sharing experiences I hope we will be able to encourage one another to become more politically active.”
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