The Work and Pensions Committee is to investigate the gap between
the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people and how
the DWP can better support disabled people in the labour market.
The inquiry will examine trends
in the disability employment gap, the economic impact of low
employment rates for disabled people and the assistance available
to help people in work. It will also cover the ongoing impact of
the coronavirus pandemic.
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee,
said: “Almost one in five working-age people has a disability
or long-term health condition. For some, this has little impact
on their ability to work. But too often, having a disability or a
long-term health condition means dropping out of the labour
market entirely. With the right support, this can often be
avoided. The Committee wants to look broadly at the support DWP
offers to disabled people and to consider how this could be
improved to help people find, stay, and progress in work.”
Background
The disability employment gap is the gap between the employment
rates of disabled and non-disabled people. The most
recent official data on disabled peoples’ employment rates
shows:
- 7.9 million people (aged 16-64)—19% of the working age
population—said they had a disability. Of these, an estimated 4.2
million were in employment, an increase of 354,000 from a year
previously;
- 53.2% of disabled people were in employment, up from 51.2% a
year previously. The employment rate for non-disabled people was
81.8%, up from 81.4%. The disability employment gap is therefore
28.6 percentage points. In 2015, it was 34 percentage points.
The Government provides support programmes and funding to help
disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to
get into, and stay in, work. These include Access to Work; Fit
for Work; the Work and Health Programme, and access to specialist
support via Jobcentre Plus.
The Government has set out additional
support measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic in
its Plan for Jobs (July 2020). Some of these will be available to
disabled people. The Government also created a “Disability Unit” in
November 2019. The Unit sits within the Cabinet Office. It is
responsible for supporting the Government’s National Strategy for
Disabled People, due by the end of 2020.
Call for written submissions
The Committee would like
to hear your views on the following questions. You don’t have
to answer all of the questions. You can respond on behalf of an
organisation, or as an individual. The deadline for submissions
is Friday 18th December.
If you need us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to
send us your views, please contact us via email on workpencom@parliament.uk or
call 020 7219 8976/text relay 18001 020 7219 8976
Progress so far and impact
- What progress has been made, especially since 2015, on
closing the disability employment gap? How has this progress been
made?
- What is the economic impact of low employment and high
economic inactivity rates for disabled people? Are some disabled
people (for example, young disabled people or people with
different health conditions) more at risk of unemployment or
economic activity than others?
- What has been the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on
disabled peoples’ employment rates?
Providing support
- Where should lead responsibility for improving disabled
peoples’ employment rates sit (for example, DWP; Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy; Health and Social Care)?
- What international evidence is there on “what works” in
supporting disabled people into, and in work, and how applicable
is this to the UK?
- What is the right balance between in and out of work support,
and is DWP getting the balance right? What more should the
Department look to provide?
- How can DWP better support employers to take on and retain
disabled employees, and to help them progress in work?
-
- How effective is the Disability Confident
scheme?
- What improvements should DWP make to the support it offers to
unemployed disabled people via Jobcentre Plus?
- The coronavirus pandemic continues to make it difficult to
offer in-person support. What evidence is there of “best
practice” in supporting disabled people remotely—either in or out
of work?
-
- How can DWP put this into practice in services such as
Access to Work and the Work and Health Programme?
Enforcement and next steps
- Are “reasonable adjustments” for disabled people consistently
applied? How might enforcement be improved?
- What would you hope to see in the Government’s National
Strategy for Disabled People?
- How should DWP look to engage disabled people and the
organisations that represent them in formulating the Strategy?
