Call to boost disabled employment

Providing disabled people with the skills to compete in the job market could deliver significant economic growth, according to a new report. The Social Market Foundation (SMF) says that this could amount to a £35bn boost over 30 years. The foundation's chief economist, Stephen Evans, says the gains are potentially massive and the cost of inaction is "mounting by the day".

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton has welcomed the SMF report. Disability, Skills and Work is published by the SMF in association with the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). In it, Mr Evans argues that improving the employment rate of disabled people to the UK average by improving their skills would give a further £13bn boost to the economy - the equivalent of six months' economic growth.

The report recommends:

Reducing the skills gap between disabled people and the rest of the population by making a commitment at national level

Obliging employers to take greater responsibility for employing disabled workers backed by legal sanctions if necessary

Giving unemployed disabled people more opportunities to improve their skills as a way of getting back to work

Mr Evans says the result would not only be increased productivity and employment but would also help to alleviate poverty, especially child poverty. "The size of the challenge is daunting - but the scale of the prize is huge and the cost of inaction is mounting by the day through wasted talent," he said. "The past decade has shown how empowering disabled people and supporting employers can work - the next decade needs to see a step change in this approach and a dramatic boost to the skills of disabled people."

The SMF argues that if the government wants to end child poverty by 2020 it must address the employment prospects of disabled people because one in three children living in poverty has a disabled parent. The DRC says that although much has been done to improve the employment prospects of disabled people, too many are still without jobs. "Supplying disabled people with the skills they need is the missing link between ending child poverty, boosting the economy and getting more people off benefits and back into work," says Agnes Fletcher of the DRC. "Investing in disabled people's skills is a win-win situation for government, creating massive dividends for the economy and delivering greater equality at the same time."

The government says it already has in place the means of improving skills through schemes such as the New Deal for Disabled People and Pathways to Work. "Our Welfare Reform Act will build on this and provide disabled people with even more tailored help and assistance to enable them to compete in the labour market," says Work and Pensions Secretary, John Hutton.

But the secretary of state reminded employers that they, too, had a role to play. "There are over 600,000 vacancies in the UK economy and there is an eager and willing pool of workers that employers must look to tap into."

Mr Hutton says that in September the government will launch an initiative called Employ Ability that will offer advice to employers as well as debunking some of the myths about employing disabled people. "We know that disabled people want to work - what they need is the opportunity. I believe that working together with employers we can enable disabled workers to compete successfully in the labour market."