Appendix 3: Call for evidence
The House of Lords Public Services Committee has launched an inquiry into the transition from education to employment for young disabled people.
This is a public call for written evidence to be submitted to the House of Lords Public Services Committee. The Committee has launched an inquiry into employment and career support for young disabled people leaving education and entering the job market and workplace. The Committee invites written contributions by 21 September 2023.
Committee inquiries: background
Committees run inquiries to scrutinise government policy. To do that they take oral and written evidence on specific topics and consider it. They then publish a report with recommendations to government. The Government must respond, and there will in due course be a Parliamentary debate. The Public Services Committee is responsible for scrutinising public services, including health and education.
This inquiry: background
The Department for Work and Pension’s Family Resources Survey estimates that 24% of people report that they are disabled, including 11% of children.359 Many disabled people face barriers to accessing work—disabled people are more likely to be unemployed or economically inactive than non-disabled people.360
A key transition in young disabled people’s lives is leaving education, and entering the workforce, possibly for the first time. This transition comes alongside a wider shift from services aimed at children and young people to services, and benefits, targeted at adults.
Disabled people are more likely to choose to work in the public sector than non-disabled people.361 However, there have been reports of disabled people facing high levels of bullying and harassment in public service employers, including the NHS. The Committee would be interested in hearing about good and poor inclusive employment practices, and how best practice could become the norm, considering best practice within and beyond the public sector in the UK and further afield.
The Committee also want to hear about the support young disabled people receive throughout the move from education to employment, considering careers advice and guidance services in education settings, employment support programmes aimed at working age disabled people, and how interlinked these services are or could be.
The Government provide support and incentives for employers to employ disabled people, such as the Disability Confident Scheme—the Committee want to hear about how they could be improved or more widely understood. The Committee is also interested in hearing about what happens when employers do not meet their obligations to disabled workers—how effectively are the rights of disabled staff enforced?
The Committee will consider services and practices from across the UK.
Who do we want to hear from?
In short: anyone and everyone with an interest, experience (including lived experience), or expertise.
The Committee is particularly interested in hearing about the experiences and ideas of young disabled people who are currently going through the transition from education to employment, or those who have recent experience of this. We are seeking a wide range of views from people with different disabilities and health conditions.
We seek evidence on the following areas. It is not necessary to answer all questions.
General
1.What barriers do young disabled people face when leaving education and entering the job market and workplace? Does this differ between different conditions or disabilities, and if so, how?
(a)How far do barriers to young disabled people accessing other public services, such as health and care services, present a barrier to young disabled people accessing the workplace?
Scope of the inquiry
2.We have not focused this inquiry specifically on the experiences of young people with an Education, Health, and Care plan when they leave education and enter employment. What are your thoughts on this approach, and are there particular benefits or drawbacks to it? What other focused approaches could the inquiry take?
Support for young disabled people
3.How effectively do education systems provide careers advice, guidance and support which meets the needs and career aspirations of young disabled people? How could this be improved, and what examples of good practice are there in the UK and abroad?
(a)Do staff in schools and other education settings providing careers guidance and advice have the appropriate training and resources to support the needs and aspirations of young disabled people?
(b)How do far do staff in education settings engage with employment support services and schemes such as Access to Work, support internships, or disability employment advisors in order to support young disabled people?
4.How far do employment support mechanisms such as Access to Work or Disability Employment Advisors meet the needs of young disabled people entering the job market for the first time? How could these services be improved?
(a)What is the first point that a young disabled person would engage with an employment support scheme, and how are such schemes communicated to young disabled people?
5.What are young disabled people’s experience of the transition from education-based support to employment-related support? Do young disabled people face barriers to accessing support during this transition? Could these services be better linked, and if so, how?
Public services as good employers
6.How accessible are careers in public services to young disabled people when they are first entering the job market? Are there public services which very effectively recruit disabled people, and services where significant improvement is needed?
(a)What could public services employers learn from best practice elsewhere, including overseas, about recruiting and retaining young disabled people? What are the barriers to implementing such good practice?
Support for employers
7.How effective are government programmes which support or encourage employers to employ disabled people, particularly young disabled people? Does this differ by condition or disability? How could they be improved?
(a)What steps could be taken to improve awareness and uptake of relevant government support schemes?
(b)What actions could employers be taking without Government support? What barriers prevent them doing so?
Enforcement of the rights of disabled people in the workplace
8.How effectively are the rights of disabled people upheld and enforced in the workplace? What barriers do young disabled people face in accessing the support (including legal support) that they need and are entitled to? How could enforcement mechanisms be improved?
(a)Is the present legal framework sufficient, in theory and in practice, in dealing with disability discrimination faced by young disabled people transitioning from education to work?
359 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), DWP Family Resources Survey: Financial Year 2021 to 2022: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2021-to-2022 [accessed 8 May 2023]
360 DWP, Employment of disabled people 2022 (26 January 2023): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/the-employment-of-disabled-people-2022/employment-of-disabled-people-2022 [accessed 8 May 2024]