The Work and Pensions Committee is to question
charities supporting disabled people, along with academics and
policy experts as part of the inquiry
into 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 evidence session will examine the effectiveness of the
Government’s target of getting one million more disabled people
into work by 2027, barriers in the workplace, how different sorts
of support can help people to find and stay in work and the role
of the benefits system. MPs will also have the opportunity to ask
about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the disability
employment gap.
The disability employment gap is the difference between the
employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people. The most
recent official data on disabled peoples’ employment rates
shows a gap of 28.6 percentage points, with 53.2% of disabled
people in employment compared with 81.8% non-disabled people.
The Committee previously took evidence
from Dame Carol Black and the National Audit Office.
Witness schedule:
Wednesday 24th February at 9.30am
Panel 1
-
,
Executive Director of Strategy, Impact and Social Change, Scope
-
Gemma Hope, Director of Policy, Leonard
Cheshire
-
Fazilet Hadi, Head of Policy, Disability
Rights UK
Panel 2
-
Tom Pollard, Independent Policy Expert
-
Professor Melanie Jones, Professor of
Economics, Cardiff Business School
-
Dr Mark Bryan, Reader in Economics, University
of Sheffield
-
Ben Baumberg Geiger, Senior Lecturer in
Sociology and Social Policy, University of Kent
