Since being established in 1992, International Day of Disabled People – which falls today – has aimed to increase awareness and promote the rights and wellbeing of disabled people.
There are more than 16 million disabled people in the UK. That’s one in four of us, and while much progress has been made, there is still further to go.
One area where action is still sorely needed is opportunities for disabled people in the workplace.
The new government last week laid out its first big step in its mission to reach an 80% employment rate, with the Get Britain Working plan. This is an ambitious target and improving opportunities for disabled people who can work will be crucial to achieving it.
At Scope, we know there are a million disabled people who want to work, but are denied the opportunity to do so. That’s an enormous pool of untapped talent. That’s why we welcomed the plan last week, which includes £115million of investment towards support for disabled people.
The government’s new Connect to Work scheme will provide a voluntary employment offer and aims to support up to 100,000 people a year into work. But while the government outlined some positive ideas such as this, a huge amount of anxiety remains about what kind of reforms will be made to benefits next year.
The government has said it expects all those who can work to be in work. But what this means for disabled people remains unclear. Many want to work, but are unlikely to ever be able to do so. Some might be able to work in the right circumstances, if they can get support, or if they find a job which is flexible while managing a fluctuating condition, but these kinds of jobs are rare.
For many it’s also a case of finding the right employer, because a lot of disabled people face discrimination in work.
Over the past few years, Scope has supported more than 8,000 disabled people with personalised employment advice. Our expert advisers take time to understand someone’s situation, their needs and hopes. We provide this tailored support to disabled people on an entirely voluntary basis, in no way linked to their benefits entitlement – and our approach works.
Time and time again, we hear how the fear of benefits being taken away while trying to find a job doesn’t help. In fact, it makes things harder. Disabled people are already twice as likely to be out of work, because of the multiple barriers they face. That is sometimes because of a lack of flexible working opportunities, such as being able to work from home or change their hours of work.
Other challenges are employers’ attitudes, with many workplaces underestimating what disabled people can do, or assuming that hiring a disabled candidate would be “difficult”. So while there are positives from the recent plan, there is still concern about how we support individuals through the benefits system.
As the government hasn’t announced plans yet for the future of benefits, it is difficult to know exactly what changes might be coming. At Scope we are concerned that the focus will only be on cutting costs and increasing sanctions rather than providing better support. We know this approach won’t just fail. It will make it harder for those disabled people who can work to get into jobs.
For those who can’t work, it will ramp up the already substantial distrust among disabled people in the welfare system. It will plunge disabled households, who already face an average of more than £1,000 in disability-related costs every month, deeper into poverty.
What we’ve seen is that when people get support without these kinds of threats hanging over them, they’re more likely to find a job, stick with it, and thrive. Taking away that fear makes a huge difference and creates a fairer, more supportive system that actually works.
The feedback we get from customers is that our approach directly results in disabled people feeling they can work with the right support. Of course, getting the right employment support is just part of the puzzle.
We also need to dramatically improve employers’ attitudes, the funding available for things like adaptive equipment, and make flexible working options a reality.
This is why it’s so important to get employment support, and how it links with benefits entitlement, right. Using benefits as a “stick” to force people into work will be disastrous.
Instead, the government needs to work with disabled people to redesign these systems so they are fit for purpose.
James Taylor is Executive Director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope
