Radical overhaul and new ambitious target needed to break down unacceptable employment barriers faced by disabled people, MPs say

30 Jul 2021 11:13 AM

DWP’s national programme for supporting disabled people to find and stay in work is not working and must instead be delivered at a local level as part of a renewed effort to break down unacceptable barriers disabled people face in the labour market, MPs say today.

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In a report on the disability employment gap1, the Work and Pensions Committee also calls on the Government to re-adopt its previous target of halving the gap, which currently stands at nearly 30 percentage points. A new, more ambitious target of getting an additional 1.2 million disabled people into work by 2027 should also be introduced.

The National Disability Strategy, published on Wednesday (28th July) after the report was agreed, revealed that the Government first intends to reach its goal of helping one million more disabled people back into work, before working with disabled people ‘to think about how we can build on this success’. Despite assurances given to the Committee from the Minister for Disabled People, there is no consultation question in the Government’s health and disability Green Paper on how the target will be set.

The Committee’s report warns that issues of trust continue to hamper the relationship between DWP and disabled people, with the Department itself admitting that this is impacting on its delivery of services. During its inquiry, the Committee heard evidence of the difficulties disabled people encountered accessing support through Jobcentre Plus, including that some BSL users were not offered an interpreter, while visually impaired people sometimes found the centres inaccessible.

Chair's comment

Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said:

“The past two weeks have seen DWP release a flurry of long-promised publications about its offer of support for disabled people. There is much in those documents that is welcome. But there are some areas in which the Government must be bolder in its ambitions.

“The Government is not far from meeting its current target for increasing the number of disabled people in work. But it has largely got there because overall levels of employment have risen and the prevalence of disability has increased—not because of substantial progress in tackling the barriers that disabled people face. We had hoped that its new National Disability Strategy would chart a course to a more ambitious and stretching target. But, despite the Minister’s assurances, there is no new target—nor even a consultation on one. That is a major disappointment.

“The gap between the proportion of disabled and non-disabled people in work has remained stubbornly high for years. The currently, overly centralised model of support simply isn’t working. We need a radical new localised approach. Support for finding and staying in a job that is much more personalised, flexible and effective should be delivered by groups of local authorities working with the NHS, training providers and charities.

“Too often decisions affecting disabled people are made without them being meaningfully consulted or listened to. During the development of the National Disability Strategy, disabled people have said that the Government has failed to make its engagement accessible for them. Disabled people and their views must now be put at both the heart of decision making and service delivery. Only then can we start to break down barriers to employment and ensure everyone has equal opportunities when it comes to work.”

Main findings and recommendations

Supporting disabled people into work

Targets and measures

Supporting disabled people in the workplace

Impact of the coronavirus pandemic

The disability benefits system

DWP’s engagement with disabled people

Further information