Earlier this week, a group of young Disabled people spoke to Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People, about how employment support needs to change. The meeting, organised by Disability Rights UK was held in the lead up to the Government’s soon to be published Green Paper on disability, benefits and work.
The Minister wanted to hear views on support into employment and the Access to Work Scheme. The young Disabled people spoke about the need for careers advice to start early, for Job Centres to have better links with employers, and for more practical assistance to be provided with job search. Whilst they acknowledged that Access to Work could work well, they also pointed to the many instances when it failed, leaving people in new jobs without the equipment and support they needed.