Mr Robertson made his comments following the publication of a report entitled "Disability Poverty in the UK" produced by leading disability charity Leonard Cheshire. He is also supporting a parliamentary motion in Westminster, calling for urgent Government action to support people with disabilities.

Mr Shand, who is disabled, has featured in the "Forres Gazette" in the past, heading up his own campaign to get better facilities for the less able-bodied, and better disabled access in the town.

He has also set up a website which offers a wealth of information to disabled people at www.disabilityhelp-scotland.co.uk

His previous efforts in Forres have helped to facilitate an EVAC chair to ensure safe passage of the less able-bodied from Forres House Community Centre's top floors, in case of an emergency where the lift is out of use.

He also refused to go back into Moray College until they installed a proper ramp giving access for the disabled, and helped to secure disabled access to the Califer Hill viewpoint.

Mr Shand, who would like to see more shops and offices think about how they would help the disabled gain access to their premises, also works with the Leonard Cheshire group in Inverness and would like to see attention paid to the contents of the report and the campaign to help the disabled.

"I have contacted the Leonard Cheshire website about this campaign," said Mr Shand.

"It is something that really needs to be addressed."

The report examines the key factors leading to poverty amongst disabled people, finding they are twice as likely as non-disabled people to live in poverty, particularly in areas such as Moray, which has particular problems associated with fuel poverty, and significant additional transport costs.

The report contains key recommendations, including extending Winter Fuel Payments to those in receipt of disability benefits, revamping the benefits system, improving access for the disabled to basic services such as education and criminal justice, and improving communication between service providers and disabled clients.

"Most people in Moray will know someone who is disabled, whether by loss of mobility, sensory loss or developmental difficulties," said Mr Robertson.

"Many disabled people will not have the same earning potential as those who are non-disabled, and in addition will frequently have significantly higher than normal living costs, such as high household heating bills."

He said the SNP had supported calls for major reforms of the benefits system and improved communication from Government departments, and claimed the report from Leonard Cheshire added significant weight to these arguments.

He also criticised the Government for plans to cut jobs at Jobcentre Plus offices, saying they should be providing more support to frontline services.

"On issues like access to services, much more needs to be done to ensure that organisations and businesses comply with existing disability legislation giving disabled people equal opportunities," he said.

Mr Shand agreed with his comments and said that people with disability problems needed someone in a local job centre where they could ask questions, not someone at the end of a long-distance telephone conversation.

"A local disability advisor gets to know you," he said.

"They know what problems you have, not like someone at the end of the phone. Dialling an 0845 number is also another unwanted expense."

He supported Mr Robertson's views about the ever-increasing cost of heating, particularly for the disabled person who spends a lot of time indoors and needs to ensure they keep warm.

"Other hidden costs include things like paying adaptation costs for cars," he said.

A ramp providing disabled access was completed at Anderson's Primary School before Christmas. Work is now ongoing at Kinloss Primary School to provide a similar facility as part of a rolling programme of works being carried out by Moray Council in all its public buildings.

"For instance, paying for a hand control costs about £400, and paying for a hoist for getting a wheelchair into a car can cost hundreds."

Meantime, Mr Shand said he was pleased to see that many premises and offices around Forres were starting to realise they had a duty to provide better disabled facilities.

"On the local front there are shops that are not accessible, but the owners are all very helpful," said Mr Shand.

"Many have installed bells and will assist you into the shop."

He praised one of the high street banks which, he said, had a small step, but had installed a button for automatic doors, which made life easier.

"Some companies know the law and try to do something about it, while others either don't know the law or don't want to know it," he said.

Mr Shand said he was delighted to see that Anderson's Primary School had recently had a new disabled access installed, which he said would be a great asset to those who would be using it.

"It is good to see things like that getting done," he said.

"I believe that everyone should be on an even level with everyone else."

He said that he has featured a whole host of topics about disabled rights on his new website, which has been getting a huge amount of hits and a very positive response from users.

A Moray Council spokesman said the work at the school was part of a rolling programme to provide disabled access to all council buildings in Moray to which the public have access.

"This is to comply with legislation," he said.

"Some need more work done than others, while some – presumably those built more recently – already have disabled access built-in."

He added that various buildings, such as community centres, had already been done, and now it was the turn of schools.

In addition to Anderson's and Kinloss Primary, where work had just started, similar provision was being made at other schools in the Forres feeder schools area.

"The rolling programme of work began about three years ago, and the schools are the final leg," he said.

t.mclaren@forres-gazette.co.uk

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