In Wales, employment rates for disabled people aged 16 to 64 are 31 percentage points lower than non-disabled people (2023 to 2024). In March, the Senedd’s Equality and Social Justice Committee published its report into reducing this disability employment gap (DEG), which has since been acknowledged in the Welsh Government’s draft 10-year Disabled People’s Rights Plan (May 2025). The report has been published at a critical moment, as the UK Government moves to reform the welfare system, including changes to health and disability benefits. The report provides important evidence on the barriers disabled people face and outlines possible actions to address them.
“Capability isn’t the issue. It’s the lack of opportunity”
Employers play a central role in closing the DEG. The Equality Act 2010 requires employers to make “reasonable adjustments” to ensure disabled people are not unfairly disadvantaged in the workplace. These adjustments can remove practical barriers, and many disabled people shared with the Committee how such changes have positively impacted their working lives.
However, in reality many employers don’t put in place these crucial adjustments. The RNIB Cymru shared their research with the Committee which found 23% of employers are not willing to make adaptations to employ someone with a visual impairment despite legal obligations. The TUC has called on employers to review their policies on making reasonable adjustments, highlighting the results of their survey of 1,000 disabled workers which found 34% are not getting the reasonable adjustments they need.
Disability Confident Scheme
Disability Confident is a UK Government accreditation scheme which encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people.
Despite the potential benefits of the scheme, the Committee heard it lacks credibility among disabled people (who associate it with the Department for Work and Pensions and say it lacks rigour).
The Committee was concerned to learn of the relatively small proportion of public sector organisations in Wales attaining the highest level of accreditation, with only two of the 22 local authorities (Pembrokeshire and Bridgend) and only four of the 12 NHS health boards and trusts having achieved this status.
The Welsh Government has accepted the Committee’s recommendation to seek urgent changes to the Disability Confident Scheme and has brought the Committee’s report to the attention of the UK Government. However, the UK Government’s green paper on disability reform doesn’t reference the scheme.
The Welsh Government has also only ‘accepted in principle’ the Committee’s recommendation to require devolved public sector bodies to make a more substantial contribution to the aim of eliminating the DEG. However, the draft Disabled Peoples Rights Plan states the Welsh Government’s commitment to increasing the number of employers in Wales achieving the highest accreditation (‘leader status’).
“Anything’s achievable with the right support”
The Committee concluded that employment support can make a significant and positive contribution to closing the DEG. They called on educators, employers and governments to take concerted action to “address the underlying causes of the employment gap” and provide much needed employment support to those who can work.
The UK Government has said it wants to provide “better and more tailored employment support” and has set out measures to support disabled people into work, including:
- Investing £1 billion in a new guarantee of support for all disabled people and those with health conditions claiming out-of-work benefits who want help to get into or return to work.
- Plans to devolve non-Jobcentre Plus employment support funding to the Welsh Government.
- Launching £10million for economic inactivity trailblazer pilots in Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Denbighshire County Council and Neath Port Talbot Council. The support offered through these pilots will include help with CV writing and job searching, one-to-one mentoring, counselling services, wellbeing provision, and access to condition management services for those with health conditions.
Access to Work scheme
While investment in employment support will be welcomed, the Committee heard specific concerns about the operation of the UK Government’s Access to Work scheme. Described as the “best kept secret”, the provide equipment in the workplace or money towards any extra travel costs to and from work.
The Inclusive Remote and Hybrid Working Study (a UK research project studying disabled workers’ experiences of remote and hybrid working) found that awareness of the scheme is low and there are long wait times before applications are processed. More recent reports have raised concerns from businesses about the UK Government not reimbursing them for the cost of supporting disabled people. Additionally, disability organisations have highlighted reports of a new cost-cutting drive aimed at Access to Work.
In February, Sir Stephen Timms MP told the UK parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee that the “current style of Access to Work is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term”. He went onto say “we have to come up with something better and more effective, given the current very high level of demand”.
The UK Government is consulting on the future of the scheme as part of its proposed reforms outlined in the green paper.
“Those who want, and are able to, should have the dignity of work”
The proposed reforms to health and disability benefits have prompted concerns from Members of the Senedd and Disabled People Organisations, with Disability Wales calling on the UK Government to “reconsider its approach”. Recent research has found around 190,000 people (6.1% of the population) in Wales are expected to be affected and there will be a sharp rise in poverty.
Over the coming months, the UK and Welsh Governments will lay out their plans for addressing the employment gap, which will significantly impact disabled people in Wales. There are opportunities to inform these important decisions:
- The consultation on the UK Government’s green paper on health and disability reform closes on 30 June.
- The Welsh Government consultation on its draft 10-year Disabled People’s Rights Plan closes on 7 August. The plan has been structured against four overarching areas for action, which includes employment, income and education.
You can watch the debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee’s report live on Senedd TV on Wednesday 11 June or view the transcript around 24 hours later.
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If you are affected by any of the issues in this article, you can find more information including advice and support in this guide, collated by Senedd Research. |
Article by Claire Thomas, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament.
