Ms Constance says "we have heard some nonsense from the Tories" on education. 

The social security secretary says the vast majority of children with additional support needs are in mainstream education and therefore it is the job of all teachers to support them.

Ms Constance says young people are better qualified than the ever have been. 

Social Security Secretary Angela Constance says there are 93 actions in the A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People - Our Delivery Plan to 2021 for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Ms Constance says the government will work with disability organisations to deliver the plan and it will be they who hold the government to account.

She says she will extend the Access to Elected Office Fund to other areas of public life. 

Image source, bbc

The minister says unusually Jeremy Balfour belittled the experience of those who lost their motability vehicle.

The Tory MSP intervenes to ask the cabinet secretary to agree that whatever scheme devised some people will miss out or will she give a car to everybody.

Ms Constance accuses Mr Balfour again of belittling the debate.

She says the Scottish government will work with experience panels on this issue.

Social Security Secretary Angela Constance says this is a debate that the Tories would rather not have. 

Ms Constance says the Scottish government welcome scrutiny and debate to move forward. 

The social security secretary says the Scottish government will seek to work with employers to improve diversity.

Labour MSP Alex Rowley intervenes to asks if the Scottish government will report on what local authorities are doing to meet housing requirements.

Ms Constance says the housing minister is working on this and that she will ask him to report back to parliament in due course.

Mr Bowman says the Scottish government has a "dismal education record for the disabled".

The Tory MSP says: "This is a terrible state of affairs."

He says the Scottish government is yet again failing to deliver on education. 

Tory MSP Bill Bowman says this parliament will have control over benefits with the new welfare powers coming to Scotland.

Mr Bowman says he agrees with Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman that barriers must be removed and there must be more access to employment. 

The Tory MSP says many have focused on PIP but this ensures support goes to those with the greatest cost. He says this supports those that are most vulnerable. 

Mr Bowman says accessible housing for disabled people is a cornerstone. 

Labour MSP Pauline McNeill says welfare reforms have hindered disabled people's rights.

Ms McNeill says failure to recognise what is in the UN report and what people are saying about welfare reform undermines the work being done by the UK government.

She says Jeremy Balfour seemed to defend the cut of accessibility to motability vehicles and she says asks how could he defend the removal of vehicles from 50,000 disabled people.

Labour MSP Pauline McNeil says disabled people often live with prejudice and discrimination. 

Ms McNeil says people with disabilities are under-represented in all walks of life "and in this place too".

The Labour MSP says becoming disabled "is something that could happen to any of us". 

She says this is the area of inequality in Scotland that "we have the most to do".

Ms McNeil says that there are millions of football fans in Scotland and clubs must do more for fans with disabilities. 

She commends Rangers Football Club for installing Broxi's Den, an area for supporters with sensory issues. 

SNP MSP Sandra White welcomes those in the gallery and the BSL interpreters. 

Ms White, who convenes the Social Security Committee, says the contributions from the Tory benches have been 'shameful". 

The SNP MSP says the "toxic Tories over here" are not keen to share the facts and that their work programme is failing thousands of people with disabilities. 

She says the UK government were challenged on their narrow definitions of eligibility and they changed the PIP legislation.  

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations were told more must be done to protect the rights of disabled people in Scotland.

It came after the UN warned that UK government welfare reforms had led to "grave and systematic" violations of disabled people's human rights, external.

A report says both the UK and Scottish governments need to take urgent action to allow disabled people to access all their rights.

The UK government said it offered "tailored and effective support".

Image source, bbc

Conservative MSP Alexander Stewart says there is now more jobs in the British economy than ever before, with more disabled people employed than ever before.

Green MSP Ross Greer asks how beneficial for disabled people is the explosion in zero hours contracts

Mr Stewart replies by saying that gives flexibility that gives disabled people the opportunity to work. 

The Tory MSP says there must be training, education and support for disabled people to work. 

Image source, bbc

Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton says news doors open tomorrow with the empowerment of the Scottish Parliament in areas of social security.

Mr Cole Hamilton says no opportunity to remove a barrier to the inclusion of disabled people should be missed.

He says disability is not always visible or detectable and he says some disabled people have to fight to just get a diagnosis. 

Mr Cole-Hamilton says the support to disabled people can be a lottery.

SNP MSP Joan McAlpine says she would dispute that the UK government has a good record on the way they treat people with disabilities. 

Ms McAlpine says 27% of people transferring from DLA have lost their benefits. 

The SNP MSP says there will be no place for ATOS in any Scottish assessment system. She says that she is proud of this and it is yet another difference between the Scottish and UK governments. 

Ms McAlpine says that there are some people losing mobility cars who can find it more difficult to get around depending on the weather and that the assessment does not take this into account.

Many children with additional support needs are struggling to thrive in Scottish schools due to a lack of staff and support, according to the a report from the Education Committee, external published yesterday.

MSPS concluded that some children felt more excluded in a mainstream school than they might have done in a special school due to a lack of resources. 

 The committee's report highlighted a drop in the number of specialist staff, support services and special school places as being contributing factors. 

MSPs heard the concerns of more than 100 parents with some of the experiences recounted described as "harrowing". 

Image source, Thinkstock

The committee has called on the Scottish government to carry out a review to look at how widespread these concerns are amid a 153% increase in the number of children with additional support needs in Scotland since 2010.  

 A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We have a system which focuses on overcoming barriers to learning and getting it right for every child. 

 "The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 places duties on education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils.

 "The Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities to ensure we build on our success to date."

SNP MSP George Adam says it is difficult not to get angry when the Tories defend the indefensible. 

Mr Adam says "the Tories think it is ok to attack disabled people". 

He says the shine that would have came off "Adam Tomkins brass neck" would be severe if it had been a sunny day. 

The SNP MSP says the Scottish government aims to treat disabled people with dignity and respect. 

He says it is alright for Tories to talk about work as the best way forward but by taking a mobility vehicle off of disabled people they are taking away their independence. 

Image source, bbc

Green MSP Alison Johnstone says Scotland can create a fairer Scotland for disabled people.

Ms Johnstone says welfare reform has had a negative impact on disabled people.

She says DLA pays for the support people need to live their lives and the welfare reforms harm the rights of disabled people to live with dignity and respect.

The Green MSP says many people are now stranded in their homes as they have had their motability vehicles taken away.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it had highlighted several "significant inequalities" in Scotland as part of a UK-wide report into disabled life.

Image source, PA

They included:

• Disabled pupils have much lower attainment rates and are more likely to be permanently or temporarily excluded
• Disabled Scots are two and a half times more likely to be unemployed than non-disabled people
• On average, disabled people in Scotland earn £1.10 per hour less than non-disabled people
• The amount of wheelchair-adapted local authority housing has decreased

Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour says we hear a lot about 'disabled people' which is not helpful language because there are different disabilities and people cannot be all categorised as the same.

Mr Balfour says PIP does not look at disabled people as a whole but their individual disabilities.

He says it is important to look at how the disability affects someone's lifestyle when considering the level of support. 

Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman intervenes to say 65% of appeals decisions are upheld so the system is clearly not "perfect".

Mr Balfour says only 6% of people who are rejected for PIP appeal.

He says the Scottish government are lacking any clarity on plans.

Image source, Getty Images

Twenty years of progress towards real equality for disabled people in Scotland could be at risk, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said.

The commission warned that a "concentrated effort" needed to be made around housing, hate crime, mental health, employment and education.

And it said 15% of Scottish wheelchair users were "inadequately housed".

But the Scottish government said the report failed to acknowledge its disability delivery plan, external.

Image source, bbc

SNP MSP Mairi Evans says her party is determined to deliver a fairer Scotland for disabled people.

Ms Evans says it is Deaf Awareness Week, so she will focus on those people who are deaf or hearing impaired.

She says there are barriers to accessing PIP with a 40 page application, but for those whose first language is BSL it is even more challenging.

The SNP MSP raises concerns about the assessments process for deaf people.

She says those that need the support from social security get it, which means taking a fundamentally different approach to that of the UK government. 

Tory MSP Adam Tomkins says the current UK government is spending £50bn on disability benefits and this is more than what the previous Labour government spent.

Mr Rowley says that is simply not the case and that the current Tory UK government is driving millions of people deeper into poverty.

The Labour MSP says "the Scottish Tories stand behind the attacks on the poorest and the weakest."

"Just the same old Tories standing up for the few," he says. 

Mr Rowley says we need to hear more about what can be done and the transfer of powers to Scotland. 

He says "we must start using the powers in Scotland".