In response to The Work and Pensions Committee enquiry launch ‘Disability Employment Gap’ Call for Evidence, we will be holding an evidence-gathering Zoom session on Thursday, 17th December at 10.30am GMT.
This call for evidence has a very tight submission deadline of Friday 18th December 2020. We are opening up this session to non-members of the Inclusive Entrepreneurs Network and if you would like to collaborate on this session please get in touch.
If you are an organisation and would like to collaborate on this session please get in touch.
This is a particularly important enquiry not just for employed but also self-employed disabled people. This is in response too and continuing with our work around Inclusive Entrepreneurship.
Please book via Eventbrite to take part however if you are not able to attend you can email your response to be included in our submission or respond as an individual directly to The Work and Pensions Committee.
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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 18 December.
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?
Jacqueline Winstanley, FRSA
https://www.universalinclusion.co.uk
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