Everyone from small businesses to parents struggling with the costs of childcare and those wanting to repeal the human right act are looking for the Queen’s Speech to spell out how the Prime Minister intends to fulfil his pre-election Manifesto promises.
Disabled people will also be looking closely to see how commitments made in the manifesto and in the election campaign will be fulfilled.
The first thing that stands out is the Manifesto aim of
halving the disability employment gap.
This means more than a million more disabled people entering and staying in work.
In the
latest Office for National Statistics figuresthere was some good news with the disability employment rate rising to 48 per cent, with the rate of increase now rising faster than the rest of the population.
However, the gap between the employment rate for disabled people and the rate for rest of the population still hovers at around 30 per cent (31.3 per cent), as it has for over a decade.
There’s a lot more to do if new Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson, and new Minister for Employment, Priti Patel, are going to meet their bold aim.
With
reportsthat a ‘Jobs Bill’ will be a centre piece of the Queen’s Speech, disabled people will be looking at what measures will be included to support disabled people into work.
Too many disabled people slip out of work, because employers often struggle to provide personalised and flexible support. The financial support available for work place adjustments must also be strengthened, as should the personalised back to work support for disabled people. With the Government also looking at regional growth, there is a real opportunity to join this up with ensuring that disabled people are able to benefit.
There is also an important economic case for addressing the disability employment gap. A recent
report by Scopefound that a 10 percentage point increase in the disability employment rate would increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by £45 billion by 2030 and also result in a £12billion gain to the public purse.
But if we’re going to get a million more disabled people into work, it’s important to understand that life costs more if you are disabled.
From travel costs, to higher fuel bills or specialist equipment – research shows that this adds up to on
average £550 per month.
This has a huge impact on disabled people's ability to hold down a job or even make ends meet. Scope is working with the
independent Extra Costs Commission–
led by disabled entrepreneurs and business experts– to look into what can be done to get disabled people a better deal as consumers. It’s clear businesses need to value the purple pound and disabled people need to be savvier consumers.
But there’s a big role for the Government. Extra costs payments – DLA which is changing to PIP - go some way to cover these significant extra costs.
In the election campaign, the Prime Minister
statedthat he wanted to ‘enhance and safeguard’ PIP.
Disabled people will be watching closely to see how the Government makes this happen.