The White Paper presents a critical opportunity to support employers to better support disabled people in the workplace. Not only would this speak to Government’s ambition to increase the employment rate to 80%, it would also mean savings to employers: better in-work support means lower staff turnover and higher productivity.
To this end, we believe that Government should:
- Enable employers to design-in support for disabled people when developing job roles.
- Ensure disabled people have opt-in access to good quality employment support, without the threat of sanctions.
- Walk the walk of its “commitment to put the views and voices of Disabled people at the heart of any policy changes that directly affect them”.
We welcome
- The proposed improvement and localisation of employment support – although resources must be sufficient to make a real difference and we want to see proposals to involve disabled people and organisations that work with them, including Disabled People’s Organisations, in delivering such support.
- The ambition for a more constructive role for Jobcentres in promoting employment opportunities rather than merely policing the social security system.
- The proposed independent review of how employers can be better supported to employ disabled people and those with health conditions and to keep them in the workplace. An emphasis on benefits and employment support – important though they are – can neglect the crucial need for employers to step up.
- The proposed expansion of mental health support and the intention to tackle NHS waiting lists – although concrete achievement must follow good intentions.
- The proposal for every young person to have access to an apprenticeship, quality training and education opportunities – although this must take full account of the needs of young disabled people and avoid sanctions (which could push young people out of the legitimate system and into the informal economy, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation).
However, the missing part of the story is a clear plan for the financial support of disabled people. We are disappointed that Government has chosen to lead on “the spiralling benefits bill” in the context of a yawning disability employment gap.
Disabled people tell the DBC member organisations time and again that they want to work, but are prevented from doing so, because of a lack of support to move into and remain in work.
For example, Mencap has found that 86% of people with a learning disability not in work want a job, but require support to move into work. Over two thirds of people with Parkinson’s who had become unemployed or retired as a result of their condition, said that in-work adjustments could have helped them stay employed. Yet in over 75% of cases, disabled employees had to initiate the process of getting reasonable adjustments. In their research, the Disability Business Forum found nearly 60% of employees said getting the adjustments they needed was dependent on how assertive and confident they were to ask for that support.
And in their November 2024 report, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation concluded that,
“Government should directly address the root causes of people being on work-related disability benefits. This includes tackling the most significant barriers to work for people receiving them. These relate to ill health and the labour market, including jobs that are not accepting or supportive enough of people who become ill or are disabled.”
For many disabled people, better employment support and in-work support are critical to enabling them to live as independent a life as possible.
However, for others, work is not an option. Those who cannot work should not be abandoned to inadequate support, insufficient to maintain a dignified life. Nor should they be subject to compulsion and fines (conditionality and sanctions) in the provision of support for disabled people who have no immediate prospect of employment.
We believe Government must
- Guarantee a decent standard of living for disabled people, whether they are in or out of work, that adequately accounts for the additional costs they face;
- Improve the social security system so that disabled people get the support they need, when they need it.
Next steps:
Disabled people and their organisations look forward to being proactively and meaningfully engaged in and consulted about:
- The White Paper proposals as they are rolled out
- The future of disability social security entitlements as the Government develops its policies in the new year.
Nothing less than meaningful engagement and consultation will do and we look forward to discussing how this will be achieved.
Disability Benefits Consortium 