More and more disabled people following their career dreams
24 Apr 2014 10:08 AM
The number
of disabled people taking advantage of support to get or keep a job is up by
over 10% on last year.
Minister trumpets
success but calls for more employees and bosses to use support on
offer.
The number of
disabled people taking advantage of support to get or keep a job is up by over
10% on last year, official figures show, as the government’s drive to
support more disabled people into work proves a success.
Nearly 10,000 new
people claimed support from Access to Work last year, which provides financial
help towards the extra costs faced by disabled people at work, such as support
workers, specialist aids and equipment and travel to work support. It takes the
total receiving help to 31,230.
But, with figures
showing that disabled people are moving into jobs, training or work placements
at a rate of more than 100 placements every working day, the minister
responsible is calling for more people to make use of the fund which enables
reasonable adjustments to be made.
Minister of State
for Disabled People Mike Penning said:
This is about
supporting disabled people to fulfil their aspirations and potential in the
workplace. I would urge disabled people who are looking for work, or need more
support to stay in their job, to find out how this scheme can help
them.
Our Disability
Confident campaign is backed by the country’s biggest businesses and is
touring the country to showcase the impressive talents of Britain’s 6.9
million disabled people. They account for a fifth of the workforce and are
tremendously valuable to the British economy – helping us compete
successfully in the global race.
Access to Work is
part of a £300 million package of support and has recently been rolled
out to cover work experience placements which people arrange themselves. It
also helps those who are self employed.
Sir Stelios
Haji-Ioannou, the founder of Easyjet, said:
Already over
100,000 disabled entrepreneurs employ an equivalent number of people in their
business start-ups. I encourage disabled people out there who have a germ of an
idea for a business, but are unsure of how to go about it, to take advantage of
the support the government has on offer to help you make your business
fly.
A digital
marketing campaign by DWP to raise awareness of the scheme has seen
an almost 80% increase in the number of people looking for more information on
how to claim the support. But the government wants to encourage more people to
apply.
The Disability
Confident campaign, launched by the Prime Minister in London last year, is
touring the country to speak to businesses in every part of the country. David
Cameron told business leaders that it’s time to dispel the myths about
the complexities of employing disabled people.
The number of
people with mental health conditions who have applied and been accepted for
help has more than doubled, standing at almost 1,100.
More
information
The Access to
Work figures relate to the period between April and December
2013.
The employment
rates for disabled people have increased gradually over the years from 42.2% in
2002 to 46.3% in 2012. However, there remains a gap of almost 30% between the
employment rate of disabled and non-disabled people. If disabled people’s
employment rate matched that of the rest of the population an extra 2 million
disabled people would be in work.
Young disabled
people can now get support through Access to Work whilst undertaking Youth Contract
work experience or participating in a supported internship or
traineeship.
Businesses with up
to 49 employees no longer pay a contribution towards the extra costs faced by
disabled people in work – saving them up to £2,300 per employee who
uses the fund.
Disabled people
can get support through Access to Work when setting up their own business if
they are enrolled on the New Enterprise
Allowance(NEA). The NEA provides expert coaching and financial
support for jobseekers with a business idea.
Anyone interested
in applying for this support, can search ‘Access to Work’
at www.gov.uk to find out details of our contact
centres.
Employers can
access support and advice about the #DisabilityConfident
campaign.
Contact Press
Office
Media enquiries
for this press release – 020 3267 5108
Follow DWP on: