Efforts to narrow the disability employment gap could be undermined as the government plans to scrap a specialist employment programme.
The current disability gap, the difference between the number of disabled workers and non-disabled workers, stands at around 28 percent, a decrease from around 33 percent more than a decade ago. But during the pandemic, the gap began to widen again with a rise of 1.7 percentage points from 2021 to 2022.
However, the government has decided to end the Work and Health Programme this autumn without a comparable replacement, prompting an industry veteran to warn that the move risks creating a gap in disability employment support.
Gareth Parry, programme director for employability at provider Maximus, told a select committee of MPs that the programme will not be renewed by the government when the contract runs out this autumn.
Comparing the soon to be scrapped programme to other ongoing employment support schemes, he explained: “The Work and Health Programme is a specialist disability support programme, whereas Restart is a larger contract, but a more mainstream employment support programme.
“When we look at the disability employment gap, it is good that there is an emphasis on that in the Back to Work Plan. However, in terms of practical contracts, I understand Universal Support is going to be targeted at economically inactive people with health conditions by and large, but that is a different community of people from those who currently access Work in Health Programme, so there is the risk of a gap in provision.”
He said that around 150,000 people a year drop out of employment for a health-related reason or a disability-related reason.
“You have a lot of people dropping out of work. If the Work and Health Programme in England and Wales—and contracts like Fair Start Scotland in Scotland—are not replaced in England and Wales with Restart, that disabled person will probably have to wait for six months before they can access Restart, which is not a specialist disability contract. There is the danger that there will be some gaps in provision as a result.”
Parry also said: “I have worked in the sector for probably well over 30 years, and the Work in Health Programme is one of the better contracts that we have seen. The ingredients of what works include being delivered by trained and experienced personnel who have experience of working in the arena of disability and employment and can give that very practical and pragmatic support. I think the voluntary nature of the programme means that engagement is better and participation rates are better in that programme.”
