For what reason £97,750 was provided to People First between 2017-18 and 2020-21 as part of the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund; what …

The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund initially ran from 2017 to 2020, and was then extended to October 2021 due to the impacts of covid-19. It was superseded by a revised funding programme: the current Equality and Human Rights Fund.The Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund was used to fund projects that would contribute to one or more of four outcomes:Discrimination against people who share protected characteristics is reduced and multiple discrimination is addressed so that barriers to participation are reduced.People covered by hate crime legislation experience lower levels of hate crime.People and communities are supported to participate in and engage with services and civic society; their contribution is recognised, and community cohesion is increased.Current imbalances in representation in all aspects and levels of public life, including education and employment are addressed to better reflect our communitiesThe Parents’ Project was funded to build on the People First’s Parents’ Group work in reducing the discrimination experienced by parents with learning disabilities and supporting parents to participate in, and engage with, services and society. The project would employ a part-time development worker to support a self-advocacy group of parents with learning disabilities (Parents’ Group), provide individual advocacy, support parents to provide training and participate in strategic planning fora.The specific outcomes to be achieved were:Parents with learning disabilities are more aware of their rights and responsibilities and have increased confidence and skills both in parenting and in contributing to training and policyParents with learning disabilities have access to more information in appropriate formats, helping them to engage with services, participate in society and be the best parents they can beProfessionals have an increased awareness and understanding of the issues for parents with learning disabilities, they are more likely to adopt a supported parenting approach in line with current policy so parents with learning disabilities experience fewer barriers to exercising their right to family life.The Fund was managed on a day to day basis on the Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners initially and then Inspiring Scotland. You can find a Final Progress Update report for the Fund summarising its impacts here: Promoting-Equality-and-Cohesion-Fund-Final-Report-Jan-Sep-2021-for-SG-publication.pdf