The Business Disability Forum (BDF) has called on the future UK government to make disability employment an urgent priority at its annual conference in London this week.
“Only 53% of disabled people of working age are in employment, compared to 81% of their non-disabled peers. With skills shortages in many sectors, this makes no sense. Disability is everyone’s business. It can and will affect all of us,” stated BDF’s CEO Diane Lightfoot, addressing the conference of senior business leaders and leading employers. “The next Government needs to prioritise disability inclusion and put it at the centre of decision-making, policy and messaging. To achieve this, the UK needs a holistic, joined-up strategy for disability, health, and work.”
This means ensuring “every disabled education leaver is equipped to have the career and future they want because they have had an accessible and inclusive education journey”, stressed Lightfoot. “It also means prioritising workplace adjustments as the key principle at the centre of any employment-related strategies. Workplace adjustments are so often the difference between someone struggling every day at work and being able to enjoy and be productive in their job – or even work at all.”
ACCESS TO WORK
For many people, support from Access to Work is critical. “Access to Work desperately needs investment from any future Government in order to fulfil its potential and the potential of disabled people,” highlighted Lightfoot. “We need to see a new long-term vision and sustainable financial investment which sees Access to Work repositioned as the single, ‘go to’ holistic workplace health and adjustments service for anyone looking for a job, in a job, starting a business, or wanting to take up volunteer or unpaid work.”
Lightfoot also called for a change in the narrative around disability. “We need to move away from the “us and them” and the deeply unhelpful rhetoric about costs to the system. Instead, we want to see a narrative about talent and opportunity and enabling everyone to thrive.”
Check out BDF’s ‘Manifesto for a disability inclusion UK’ to read all of its asks for the next Government.
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