CONCLUSION
107. The Pathways to Work Green Paper makes
it clear that disabled people have not shared in the growth in
employment. The Government is now making a concerted effort to
ensure that disabled people can move from benefit into work. The
Green Paper recommendations, if adopted, will help more disabled
people into work. The planned pilots and the plethora of other
employment initiatives for disabled people will help to increase
the employment rate for disabled people. However, more time is
needed to allow current initiatives to have an effect. Many of
the existing schemes to help disabled people into work are still
in their early stages and it is too early to comment on their
success or otherwise. It is, however, possible to conclude that
the strategy is too fragmented and that the proportion of funds
within the overall employment budget, to help disabled people
into work should be increased.
108. Two key areas of concern are that disabled people
are disadvantaged by the binary split between 'incapacity' and
'able to work'; and the leap between benefits and work is too
big and deters many disabled people from making the jump. While
these problems exist, work incentives will only have a limited
effect.
109. The Committee has not yet heard oral evidence
from the Department and we may return to this subject following
the Government's response to the Green Paper consultation and
the outcome of the pilots outlined in the Green Paper.
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