Bore Da Good Morning –
AND thank you to the consortium of partners, led by Learning Disability Wales, delivering the Engage to Change Project, for inviting me to sponsor this event.
The Project is funded for five years by The Big Lottery Fund, in partnership with Welsh Government.
You’ll be hearing more later from Learning Disability Wales and their delivery partners, ELITE supported Employment, Agoriad Cyf, Cardiff University and All Wales People First, about the project, which will support 1000 young people in Wales with a learning disability/learning difficulty and/or autism to gain employability skills and find sustainable employment.
In addition to my role as Shadow Secretary for Communities, Europe and North Wales, I Chair Assembly Cross Party Groups, including Disability, Autism and Neurological Conditions, and I am a member of the Cross Party Groups on Deaf Issues.
In March 2013, I Chaired an event in the Assembly “Towards an Enabling Wales: Improving Employment Prospects for Disabled People” as then Co-Chair of the Assembly Cross Party Group on Disability.
In my introductory comments, I detailed the purpose of the Cross Party Group to address key pan-impairment disability equality issues, including implementation of the Social Model of Disability and the right to Independent Living, emphasising that people are disabled by society not themselves, that we must work together to tackle the barriers to access and inclusion for all and that everyone must be allowed independence, choice and control in their lives.
In September 2013, I Chaired a parallel Cross Party Group on Disability meeting in North Wales, with the theme of Employment and Disability.
A wide range of disability employment services were outlined by both the DWP and Remploy, supporting disabled people into work, supporting employers to provide sustainable employment for disabled people and helping disabled people maintain their roles in work.
Leonard Cheshire Disability’s March 2011 Report “Disability Poverty in Wales”, found that:
- 33% (130,000) of working age disabled people in Wales live in poverty - a figure higher than anywhere else in the UK.
- And that the employment rate for disabled people in Wales was 9% lower than the UK rate and had fallen sharply since 2007
December 2013 research by the Office for National Statistics revealed that the disparity between the level of disability among those in the top professions and those in routine manual work was greater in Wales than any English region.
As Rhian Davies, chief executive of Disability Wales, then said: “What’s needed is very targeted work at young disabled people to support them in terms of thinking through what are their goals and what do they need to have in place to make that happen.”
The Cross Party Group on Disability took evidence across Wales to inform the Welsh Government’s Framework for Action on Independent Living, which outlines the steps the Welsh Government will take to make sure disabled people have the same access to services and opportunities as the rest of society.
This is enshrined in the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act, Part 2 Code of Practice.
This includes actions to support disabled people into training and employment.
As the April 2015 Scope Report, “Enabling work: disabled people, employment and the UK economy”, states:
“Being in work is about more than just a wage. It is about being independent, interacting with your peers, and being able to achieve your goals and aspirations. But for too many disabled people there are barriers to entering, staying in, and progressing in work. This is not only an issue for the individuals involved, but an issue for society at large.
Failure to address the barriers to work that disabled people face is a failure to recognise the contribution that disabled people make and could make to Britain’s economy and society”.
This Report found that “a five percentage point rise in the employment rate amongst disabled adults below pension age would generate an increase in UK GDP of 23 Billion by 2030” rising to £45 Billion with a 10 percentage point rise.
The Papworth Trust Report “Disability in the United Kingdom 2016 Facts and Figures” found that across the UK:
Over 50% of working age people who are out of work are disabled - unemployed or economically inactive.
Disabled people are nearly 4 times as likely to be unemployed or involuntarily out of work as non-disabled people.
Disabled adults are nearly 3 times as likely as non-disabled adults to have no formal qualifications.
Adults aged 16–64 with impairments are twice as likely as their peers to experience barriers to education and training opportunities.
Between the ages of 16 and 19 disabled young people are more likely than their non-disabled peers to not be in any form of education, employment or training
AND at 19 years of age, disabled young people are twice as likely as their non-disabled peers to not be in any form of education, employment or training.
Research conducted in 2007 by the National Autistic Society suggested that just 15% of adults with autism were in full time employment, 9% were in part time employment and 66% were not working at all, including voluntary work.
Their follow-up research in 2016 found almost no movement, with just 16% of autistic adults in full time work.
It is believed that the gap is even worse in Wales, with just 10% of working aged Autistic people in employment.
They called on the Governments to tackle the Autism Employment Gap once and for all – by introducing specialist support to help autistic people find and stay in work and launching a national programme to raise employers' awareness of the skills and potential of autistic people.
Employers can play their part too by accessing their resources and working with them to become Autism Friendly Employers.
Leading an Assembly Debate on Autism in 2015, I referred to a parent at the Cross Party Autism Group who had highlighted adults on the autistic spectrum, particularly those with high functioning autism and Asperger’s, wanting to work but denied employment due to bullying and lack of concern.
He referred to two German companies which only employ people diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome because they do not waste time, are accurate, diligent and get the job done.
Speaking here in the same month at the Launch Event for Remploy Cymru on the importance of finding sustainable employment for disabled people in Wales – I stated “Remploy rightly believes that employment is the most effective route out of poverty and towards social inclusion for many disabled people in Wales”.
I have also since discussed with them their support for Autism Friendly Apprenticeships.
Independent Living enables disabled people to achieve their own goals and live their own lives in the way that they choose for ourselves.
Dignity and Justice for all means that, whatever your impairment, you will not be disadvantaged by it in your daily living.
This includes having choices of where, what, when, how, who with, you live your life - but this is not yet a reality in our society today.
Slow progress towards equality in our society has been achieved since the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, but there is still discrimination, institutional even if unintended, on the part of big organisations, including Local Authorities.
Equality means disabled people having the same opportunities as non-disabled people in their daily lives - without other people deciding.
Above all, we must include people with impairments in daily decisions about their lives.
It is they who know what their needs are and how best they can be met.
The best approach everyone should take to disability equality is, ‘No decisions made about us without us’.
Equality means an equal opportunity to access the full range of roles in the economy:
– an equal chance to secure new roles as they come on stream through economic growth;
– the opportunity to keep working when you acquire an impairment or when your impairment changes;
– And disabled people experiencing fewer barriers to getting in, staying in and getting on in employment, with reduced reports of low expectations, discrimination and fear of discrimination.
As the Sayce Report on Disability employment, “Getting in, staying in and getting on” states:
“Disabled people often face barriers to work beyond those faced by their non-disabled counterparts. Many require support which goes beyond the traditional package of CV-writing, skills training and job broking used to support many job seekers. Disabled people may also require barriers to be removed; ongoing support for them and their employer at work; individualised support to manage their impairment; and help with transport”.
She also quoted from the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People, where it details:
“The right to work on an equal basis with others in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible.”
To conclude, it is vital that we remove barriers to employment that restrict life choices for disabled people so that all can be independent and equal in society – and I therefore wish every success to the “Engaged to Change Project”.
Diolch Yn Fawr