Increasing employment opportunities for those with disabilities a Government priority, employment minister says

The Government will work with those with disabilities to increase the number of people in work, Alison McGovern, the minister of state for employment, has said.

McGovern made the comments during a parliamentary event launching a report into employer attitudes towards blind and partially sighted people.

The event took place at Portcullis House, Westminster, on Monday (14 October).

McGovern explained that the Government wants to see 80% of people in the UK in work, and that this target will be impossible to reach without effective collaboration with those with lived experience of disability.

Three quarters (75%) of the general population are in work as of August 2024, according to official market statistics.

Just over half (53%) of people with disabilities are in employment, while for blind and partially sighted people, the number is one in four.

“We’ve got to have a big change in the way we approach employment,” McGovern said.

The Government has started this process by increasing the number of staff members working on the Access to work backlog, she revealed.

McGovern also explained that the Government is working closely with employers, to ensure that they can “see the case for talent amongst all people.”

Matching talent with appropriate technology will help to “make the most of disabled people’s time,” McGovern said.

She added that a White Paper that aims to raise the ambition of staff within Job Centres when it comes to finding work for those with disabilities is currently being drafted.

McGovern called on attendees, including eye health stakeholders, MPs, and charity representatives, to support the Government’s work in this area.

“If you share that ambition – that disabled people have not just the ability but the right to work and make the most of their talents, like everybody else – then I look forward to working very hard with you to make that right a reality,” she said.

Time for change

The Changing attitudes, changing lives: an inquiry into employer attitudes and the employment of blind and partially sighted people report, published by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Eye Health and Visual Impairment, is based on evidence gathered in the first half of 2024, including two oral evidence session that took place in Parliament.

Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea and chair of the APPG, spoke alongside McGovern at the report’s launch.

De Cordova noted that: “If you are blind in the UK, there is only a one in four chance that you will be in work. This is despite the Equality Act, a wealth of equality, diversity and inclusion policies, and multiple welfare to work programmes.”

This disparity led the APPG to commission polling on employer attitudes in November 2023, eventually leading to the newly published report, de Cordova said.

The report found widespread evidence of inaccessible recruitment processes, a lack of funding for adaptations, and “a significant awareness deficit and education among employers regarding the capabilities and potential of blind and partially sighted people.”

It also found positive examples of effective adaptations, such as screen readers, flexible working hours and personalised support, which have addressed specific needs and enhanced job satisfaction and productivity amongst partially sighted employees.

The report makes 22 recommendations for improvement, focusing on barriers to employment, employer attitudes, and policy and frameworks.

McGovern told attendees that she has already agreed to work with de Cordova on the contents of the report.

“I believe now really is the perfect time to deliver that long awaited change,” de Cordova said.

Lived experience focus

Attendees heard from speakers including George Plumridge, a former teacher and now an information support officer at the Nystagmus Network, who lives with retinitis pigmentosa.

Plumridge explained how he encountered a lack of understanding when applying for Jobseekers’ Allowance, after his condition meant he had to give up teaching.

“I was always somebody who suppressed my sight, and I didn’t like talking about it, because I always felt that there would be a judgment about around my capabilities and my abilities as a visually impaired person,” he said.

Unfortunately, he explained, he did encounter this lack of awareness whilst attending the Job Centre.

“They didn’t engage with me at all,” Plumridge said. “They were talking to my partner, saying ‘does he realise that he needs to apply for 30 hours’ worth of jobs a week? But he can’t do many jobs, because he can’t see very well. He’d be better off applying for benefits and Employment Support Allowance. There’s not much we can do.’”

There was no mention made about disability employment advisors or other support that he might be entitled to, Plumridge said.

He added: “Leaving the Job Centre, I felt a lot worse than when I went in. It also confirmed to me that actually, I might not be able to get a job.”

Plumridge later joined the Thomas Pocklington Trust’s Get Set Progress internship scheme, before securing his current role at the Nystagmus Network.

Jamie Ward, head of talent and learning at Channel 4, told attendees how he became blind in his left eye just six weeks after an eye examination led to a diagnosis of leber hereditary optic neuropathy.

Ward shared his experience of developing the condition whilst working, and continuing to work after he had lost his sight in both eyes.

The life-changing moment came when he got the correct technology and the training to use it, Ward said.

It did take him six months to receive a call back from Access to work, however.

“It’s about getting the right help at the right time to keep people in work,” Ward said.

He emphasised that inclusivity in the workplace does not always have to involve expense – often, behaviour change is equally as valuable.

Adding dark backgrounds to Teams calls has helped to reduce glare, he explained.

Ward also noted that colleagues stating their names and where they are sat at the beginnings of meetings has helped him enormously.

“It’s changes like that that can make so much difference,” he added.

De Cordova closed the event by thanking speakers and guests for attending the launch, and calling for attendees to “work together to make sure that we can deliver that change that I know we all so desperately need.”

“I really do hope that this report can be a watershed moment and lead to some real and lasting change, where we can finally break down some of those barriers that blind and partially sighted people are facing to access the labour market, and bring around the change that we all are so desperate to see happen,” she said.

She added: “I don’t want to be stood here in 10 or even 20 years’ time, still having the same battles. It’s really time for that change.”

The APPG on Eye Health and Visual Impairment’s report, Changing attitudes, changing lives: an inquiry into employer attitudes and the employment of blind and partially sighted people, was supported and funded by the Thomas Pocklington Trust and the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

The report can be read in full here.