Speech by Minister for Disabled People, , to the UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York.
The aim of the United Kingdom government is clear: to deliver
long-term change through practical actions and wide-ranging
policies across government, which enable disabled people to live
full and independent lives. I’m therefore delighted to take part
in this very important roundtable discussion.
We are delivering on this ambition in terms of economic
empowerment. We’ve seen 1.3 million more disabled people in work
than in 2017, delivering a government commitment five years
early. The general trend in disability employment has been
positive, with strong growth in the number and rate of disabled
people in employment and a narrowing of the disability employment
gap.
Over the next three years, our government will invest £1.3
billion in employment support for disabled people and people with
health conditions. For example, the Access to Work Scheme
provides employees with grants of up to up to £62,900 per year to
cover workplace adaptations such as special equipment, support
workers and travel to and from work.
More and more employers are recognising the value that disabled
people can bring to their business as talent and indeed, as
customers. But many employers still lack the confidence, the
knowledge, the processes and skills they need to support disabled
staff effectively and be inclusive and fully accessible. And
that’s why through the Disability Confidence Scheme, we’re
working with employers to change attitudes and create employment
opportunities through the recruitment and retention of disabled
people in the workplace.
I want to take this opportunity to agree with the representative
of the World Blind Union who spoke so powerfully of dignity and
simple desire, but also of the interlocking other challenges.
Josh Wintersgill’s story from the panel told us this as well.
So our goal therefore is to improve disabled people’s everyday
lives in the United Kingdom. And together with all of you at this
conference, we want disabled people to be economically empowered
and part of economic growth as we build back better after the
pandemic.
