THIS is an advertisement feature from the UK Government.

Mind the gap – the disability employment gap, that is.

Mind the gap – the disability employment gap, that is.

It’s a disparity that widened during the early stages of the pandemic for the first time in eight years, with figures from the Office for National Statistics showing that the employment rate for people with a disability was nearly 30 percentage points lower than for non-disabled people between July and September 2021.

The picture had been improving, and although the disability employment gap has now returned to pre-Covid levels, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of disabled people. Statistics from the ONS showed that among people who said that coronavirus had affected their wellbeing, 46 per cent of disabled people reported a negative impact on their mental health, compared to 29 per cent of non-disabled people.

Determined to improve the lives of Britain’s 14 million disabled people, last summer the Government launched its National Disability Strategy.

The package of support is designed to make a real difference, and includes Access to Work: a scheme to help anyone with a disability who requires in-work support to move into a job and keep it. Grants are available – for example, contributing to the cost of taxi fares or funding adaptation of vehicles.

There is also a pilot under way, at the University of Wolverhampton and Manchester Metropolitan University, to offer disabled students a “passport” to capture information about their disability so they don’t have to explain it time and again to potential employers.

The passport will capture adjustments the students may have used while at university, identify any new adjustments they may require in the workplace and raise awareness of the support Access to Work could provide. More “adjustment passport” pilot schemes are due to start this spring for disabled jobseekers, supported internships and service leavers exiting the armed forces.

This is underpinned by the Government’s Plan for Jobs, help that’s available to all jobseekers, which includes the sector-based work academy programme (SWAP) and Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS).

Meanwhile, the Disability Confident scheme assists employers, providing advice, guidance and support to help bosses attract, recruit and develop disabled people in their businesses.

Mo's Story

The Government aims to see a million more disabled people into work by 2027 – people like Mo who, as a result of complications from heart surgery when he was six weeks old, has paraplegia.

Mo is independent, living in an adapted flat and driving his own car. He’s determined, too. Once, after missing his stop on a train because no one could operate the ramp, he lobbied decision makers to change their policy on which railway staff are authorised to use ramps.

At school he got six GCSEs and went on to college, working towards a BTEC in IT. But halfway through the course, he had to drop out because of ill health. Unfortunately, he was then unemployed for 18 years.

“I was constantly being told no, being made to feel useless,” says Mo, from North London. “It was so disempowering and I plunged into bouts of deep depression. During my worst periods, I had suicidal thoughts.

Then, four years ago, Mo’s local jobcentre matched him with an employment adviser at a charity that specialises in helping disabled people into work. Suddenly, everything changed.

“Dawn listened to me and gave me belief in myself,” he remembers. “When I was struggling, I’d call her and she’d lift me up. She organised volunteering placements for me – in a community shop and at the head office of a charity where I spent six months implementing a computer bookings programme for their halls.

“For so long I’d felt I had nothing to offer the world. Then it all changed. People needed my help – and my confidence soared.”

Dawn applied for Government grants on behalf of Mo – for example, to pay for a suit to wear to interviews. She also reworked his CV and helped him get on a course for improving interview skills with a grant to cover travel.

“That was good and I began getting responses to applications,” Mo recalls. “But obviously, at the interview, recruiters saw I was in a wheelchair and that was the end of it.”

Until, in 2018, Mo was contacted by a manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, who had spotted his CV on an internet jobs database and thought he might be a fit for a merchandising position, visiting stores and checking that Coca-Cola’s products are displayed correctly.

“I had a telephone interview first and held back on the fact that I’m a wheelchair user. I think the hiring manager was a bit shocked when I arrived at the face-to-face interview,” Mo says. “But she was upfront and asked me the question interviewers usually shy away from: ‘How, physically, would you manage this job?’

“I wasn’t offended. It’s a fair question. The job involves stocking shelves and I couldn’t reach the top ones. A few days later, she called and said she’d chatted to various people and the job could be adapted to fit around me. My first ever job offer – I was so emotional I burst into tears. Then I called Dawn to thank her.”

Mo loved the job and his top shelves were stocked by the friends he made in the eight stores in his area. He also became an agent for change on a national level at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, making a real difference for other disabled candidates.

He adds: “Coca-Cola were always willing to listen to me. I never felt shy about raising issues. And more than just listening, they acted. I told them they needed to do an audit on how accessible their workplaces are for disabled people and it happened. Thanks to that audit, hearing loops and automatic doors will be installed at our centre in Edmonton.”

Mo is now on three disability steering groups within Coca-Cola and – partly due to his input and enthusiasm – the company has become a proud member of the Government’s Disability Confident employer scheme, achieving status as a Disability Confident Leader (Level 3).

“Since Mo joined the team three years ago, he’s become one of our top merchandisers,” says Nick Forkin, a senior business partner at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. “In doing so, he has challenged us all to reconsider how we view disability. His honesty and open-minded attitude have helped us become a more disability-friendly organisation, and have encouraged his colleagues and leaders to rethink how we look at inclusivity.”

Mo’s role in Coca-Cola has now changed. Last month he began a two-year apprenticeship, combining his job with studies (through the University of Lincoln) in health and safety at the Edmonton Coca-Cola factory, leading to a role as quality, environment, safety and health (QESH) coordinator.

“QESH is where change can be created for people with disabilities, and I’ll be right at the heart of that,” Mo says. “When I compare my life now to where I was five years ago, it’s incredible. And it’s thanks to the help I received from Dawn and the opportunities I’ve been given at Coca-Cola.

“I feel like a valued member of society now, which for years seemed impossible. Before this job, I was surviving. Now, I’m finally getting to live.”

There’s help with housing too

As well as assisting with employment, the National Disability Strategy focuses on housing, and the Government will confirm plans to improve the delivery of more accessible new homes in due course.

Meanwhile, Disabled Facilities Grants, applied for through local councils, are available for homeowners and renters to adapt their existing properties by, for example, installing ramps, widening doors and fitting stairlifts.

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