MACS RECRUITING A CONVENER AND 14 MEMBERS
Scottish Ministers are looking to appoint a Convener and 14 new members to the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS). The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) was established in 2002 as an Advisory Public Body that gives advice to Scottish Ministers on matters relating to the needs of disabled persons in connection with transport. The appointments will be made for a period of 3 years, commencing on 01 November 2008 and ending at the latest, on 31 October 2011.
In line with the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland Regulations 2002, at least one half of the members, including the Convener, must consider themselves to be disabled under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The Convener will receive an allowance of £150 per day while Members will receive an allowance of £100 per day. The allowances are to cover attendance at quarterly meetings and preparation time. All receipted, directly related travel and subsistence costs, as well as reasonable childcare or other carer expenses, will be reimbursed as will reasonable additional expenses for people with disabilities.
MACS meetings will be held quarterly and will normally run for a half-day. The time commitment for the Convener is likely to be 1 to 2 days per month. This will include attendance at MACS meetings, meetings with Scottish Government officials and attendance at occasional meetings on behalf of the Committee. The time commitment for Members will likely be 1 day per quarter to cover attendance at MACS meetings. In addition, Members may be invited to join sub-committees, which may require a further time commitment of around 4 days per annum.
Most meetings will be held in central Edinburgh. However, a certain amount of travel will be necessary as some MACS meetings may be held at other venues across Scotland.
The Role involves giving advice and making recommendations to Scottish Ministers on matters relating to the needs of disabled persons in connection with public and community transport; taking full consideration of the needs of disabled persons when responding to consultations issued by the Scottish Government, and engaging with users and operators of public transport.
Anyone who wishes to find out further details of the post can obtain application packs from the Scottish Government's Public Appointments Team by emailing paapplicationsmailbox@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or by phoning 0131 244 3033, providing the applicant's name, address and vacancy that they are interested in. The closing date for applications is 05 September 2008.
Information about current appointments to the MACS board can be viewed by clicking here.
Public appointments and other vacancies can be viewed at the Scottish Government's website at www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies .
MACS AND PTUC DEBATE IN THE TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE AND CLIMATE COMMITTEE TUESDAY 10th JUNE 2008
Following a debate at the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee the Scottish Government decided not to proceed with the necessary legislation required for the amalgamation of the Public Transport Users' Committee for Scotland (PTUC) and the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS). Two Revocation Statutory Instruments were subsequently laid in Parliament and come into effect on 14 June. The revocations mean that the PTUC and MACS will continue to exist as separate advisory NDPBs
For anyone interested, the full report of the debate in the Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee can be read at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/committees/ticc/or-08/tr08-1302.htm#Col793
What is the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS)?
The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) was established in 2002 as an Advisory Public Body that gives advice to Scottish Ministers on matters relating to the needs of disabled persons in connection with transport.
How can MACS make a difference?
There are several routes through which MACS will do this. The first is by responding to consultations issued by the Scottish Government. MACS considers all transport consultation documents issued by the Government and will advise Ministers if the proposals set out do not take full consideration of the needs of disabled people. MACS will also respond to other relevant consultation documents where appropriate. These consultation responses can be found in the resources section of this website.
MACS will also decide to run its own investigations from time to time. This work will be undertaken where we think there is a need to address a particular problem in access to transport and where the Government or others appear not to be taking action. The result of such work would normally be a report or a set of recommendations advising how the situation could be improved. Copies of our findings will be sent to Scottish Ministers and will normally be published in the resources section of this website.
MACS will apply private and public pressure to Ministers and transport operators to make changes to transport services to ensure that they are accessible to all.
What has MACS achieved and what will it do in the future?
MACS has a clear vision and aims which it works towards through its annual work programme. Copies of our current and past work programmes and annual reports can be found in the resources section. You will also find information on what MACS has achieved and is working on under the separate working groups links.
If you have any comments on the work of MACS (or on areas where you think we should be doing some work) do not hesitate to contact us.
How does MACS operate?
MACS meets as a full Committee a minimum of four times each year. This means that there is not time for all MACS work to be done in the full Committee. Instead two working groups, Policy and Research and Services, have been set up which do detailed work on specific topics as decided by the full Committee. The Working Groups then report back to the full Committee with completed pieces of work and once agreed these will issue as MACS documents. All of MACS documents produced to date along with minutes of MACS meetings can be found in the resources section.
MACS also works closely with its English counterpart, the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC). Information on the working relationship between the two bodies can be found in the Concordat with DPTAC.