Written Question · S6W-07066 · Session 6
How many disabled people have achieved (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment as a result of its A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People …
The question
To ask the Scottish Government how many disabled people have achieved (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment as a result of its A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People
- Employment Action Plan.
The answer
Our aim is to at least halve the disability employment gap (DEG) by 2038. The number of disabled people (16-64 years) in full-time employment in Scotland is estimated to have increased from 180,000 in Jan-Dec 2016 to 217,600 in Jan-Dec 2020; with the number of disabled people in part-time employment increasing from 96,500 in Jan-Dec 2016 to 117,600 in Jan-Dec 2020.
A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan outlined the initial actions we would take to help meet the ambition to at least halve the DEG. The action plan includes commitments that relate to direct delivery of employability support and where data is currently available regarding the number of disabled people supported to achieve employment, this is provided below:
• Fair Start Scotland (FSS) latest statistics (published 23 Feb 22) show that 44% (18,352) of participants reported having a disability and 63% (26,316) reported having a long-term health condition. 31% of disabled people on FSS has so far started a job (4,065);
• No one Left Behind, including the Parental Employment Support fund (PESF) has supported 2,160 parents. 13% of parents reported having a disability (280) (experimental statistics).
The plan also includes a range of other cross cutting measures tackling the structural barriers that prevent many disabled people from entering and/or sustaining fair work, such as:
• supporting young disabled people and transitions delivered through the Young Person’s Guarantee;
• improving and increasing accessibility of public transport delivered through the Accessible Travel Framework;
• supporting employers to improve their recruitment and retention practices for example through the Public Social Partnership Apt; and
• seeking to maximise opportunities to support disabled people’s employment through available regulatory tools and mechanisms, such as the sustainable procurement duty.
When considering the population level disability employment gap clear progress has been made since we set out our ambition. The narrative updates are provided of the impact of these actions in our Year one and two progress reports .
A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan outlined the initial actions we would take to help meet the ambition to at least halve the DEG. The action plan includes commitments that relate to direct delivery of employability support and where data is currently available regarding the number of disabled people supported to achieve employment, this is provided below:
• Fair Start Scotland (FSS) latest statistics (published 23 Feb 22) show that 44% (18,352) of participants reported having a disability and 63% (26,316) reported having a long-term health condition. 31% of disabled people on FSS has so far started a job (4,065);
• No one Left Behind, including the Parental Employment Support fund (PESF) has supported 2,160 parents. 13% of parents reported having a disability (280) (experimental statistics).
The plan also includes a range of other cross cutting measures tackling the structural barriers that prevent many disabled people from entering and/or sustaining fair work, such as:
• supporting young disabled people and transitions delivered through the Young Person’s Guarantee;
• improving and increasing accessibility of public transport delivered through the Accessible Travel Framework;
• supporting employers to improve their recruitment and retention practices for example through the Public Social Partnership Apt; and
• seeking to maximise opportunities to support disabled people’s employment through available regulatory tools and mechanisms, such as the sustainable procurement duty.
When considering the population level disability employment gap clear progress has been made since we set out our ambition. The narrative updates are provided of the impact of these actions in our Year one and two progress reports .
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S6W-07066 by reference.