The government published a summary of responses to a consultation on ending discrimination against disabled people, including the definition of disability; employment discrimination; and access to goods, services, facilities and premises. It said that, in the light of the responses, it would be implementing the 'vast majority' of the employment proposals (originally made by the Disability Rights Task Force) in October 2004.
Source: Towards Inclusion - Civil rights for disabled people: Summary of responses received to the consultation exercise, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Dec
Researchers found that the New Deal for Disabled People appeared to have attracted people who, if not already in a job, wanted paid work. However, only a quarter had been looking for work prior to registration. Generally, registrants were positive about how job brokers operated and the services they provided. (The NDDP is a voluntary programme that aims to help people on incapacity benefits move into sustained employment.)
Source: Karl Ashworth et al., New Deal for Disabled People National Extension: First wave of the first cohort of the survey of registrants, W180, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
Trade unions said that if more families were to be lifted out of poverty, the government should be aiming for 60 per cent of disabled people to be in work by 2013. To achieve this it had to start spending as much money on employment initiatives for disabled people as other European countries did.
Source: Setting New Goals: Disabled people, work and poverty, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Report | TUC press release
Date: 2003-Dec
Researchers found that disabled people's reactions to initial contact with job brokers under the New Deal for Disabled People were positive: but there were mixed opinions about the services offered, the pace of service, and about whether the job brokers were sufficiently pro-active in the process of finding work.
Source: Anne Corden et al., New Deal for Disabled People National Extension: Findings from the first wave of qualitative research with clients, job brokers and Jobcentre Plus staff, W169, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8299)
Links: Report (pdf)|Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
An article outlined the reasons given for the introduction of the New Deal for Disabled People, and how it evolved from a pilot to a national programme. It said that policy makers appeared to be continuing to search for an effective programme that would help the client group move into paid work, but that a more 'individualised' approach might be required.
Source: Bruce Stafford, 'In search of a welfare-to-work solution: the New Deal for Disabled People', Benefits, Volume 11 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Oct
Researchers sought to establish information about those eligible and those invited to take part in the New Deal for Disabled People - their work aspirations, and their attitudes to (and awareness of) the programme.
Source: Catherine Woodward, Anne Kazimirski, Andrew Shaw and Candice Pires, New Deal for Disabled People: Evaluation eligible population survey wave one interim report, W170, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8299)
Links: Report (pdf)|Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
An article said that more detailed consideration needed to be given to what distinguished between those disabled people who were, and were not, in work. Average figures for employment masked a very wide range of variation in the prospects faced by individual disabled people immensely wider than the range for the population as a whole.
Source: Richard Berthoud, 'Disabled people and jobs', Benefits, Volume 11 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Oct
An article drew on lay perspectives to question some assumptions underpinning the government's New Deal for Disabled People. The programme aimed to enhance labour supply, but the problems people experienced were more about the organisation of work and the limited demand for their skills.
Source: Donna Easterlow and Susan Smith, 'Health and employment: towards a New Deal', Policy and Politics, Volume 31 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Oct
An article examined what was achieved by introducing the disability working allowance. It considered the stated objectives and other evidence about what was behind the policy, including the aims of those who lobbied government on 'partial capacity'. (Disability working allowance was introduced in 1992 as a benefit to top up the wages of disabled people working 16 hours a week or more.)
Source: N. Cockett, 'Disability Working Allowance: what was the point?', Benefits, Volume 11 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that mental health problems in the workplace were far greater than previously realised - and that many line managers were poorly equipped to deal with them. The government published a resource pack for managers, designed to help them deal with the issue.
Source: Managing Mental Health, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700) | The Line Managers' Resource Pack: Practical guide to managing and supporting mental health in the workplace, Mind out for Mental Health Campaign/Department of Health (0870 443 0930)
Links: Resource pack (pdf) | Work Foundation summary
Date: 2003-Sep
A research report provided evidence on the factors that placed people at risk of losing their job who had been off work because of illness, injury or disability for between 6 and 26 weeks. It was found that there were no published screening tools suitable for identifying those most at risk.
Source: Jean Peters et al., Literature Review of Risk Factors for Job Loss Following Sickness Absence, In-House Report 122, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A report highlighted recent initiatives by employers towards creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce; examined the nature of the forces driving these initiatives; and underlined good practices and the lessons learnt from them.
Source: Amin Rajan and Sharon Harris, Workforce Diversity to Raise the Bottom Line, Centre for Research in Employment and Technology in Europe (01892 526757)
Links: Personnel Today article (1) | Personnel Today article (2) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
The government announced that the New Deal for Disabled People would be extended for a further two years, to March 2006. All existing job brokers would have the opportunity to participate in the extended programme, but would be required to meet new standards of performance. Brokers would receive an initial 300 payment when they registered new customers, provided they had appropriate 'back to work' plans in place to support people wanting to move into work; and the qualifying period for claiming payment for sustained job outcomes would be reduced from 26 weeks to 13 weeks, although job brokers would still be expected to provide ongoing support for a minimum of 6 months after someone had moved into work.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 7.7.03, column 66WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 17.7.03, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Hansard | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A study explored how disabled people got by in the workplace, and looked at the nature of the support they required and received. Disabled workers were found to use a diverse and often complex range of strategies: there was no universally beneficial strategy that could be applied by all disabled workers.
Source: Alan Roulstone, Lorraine Gradwell, Jeni Price and Lesley Child, Thriving and Surviving at Work: Disabled people s employment strategies, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: JRF Findings 793
Date: 2003-Jul
New regulations were approved which, from October 2004, would end the exemption of employers with fewer than 15 employees from the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Source: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003, Statutory Instrument 2003/1673, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Statutory Instrument | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Jul
Consultation began on regulations governing pilot schemes (from October 2003) for incapacity benefit claimants. The regulations built on the work-focused interview regulations introduced to support the rollout of the Jobcentre Plus pathfinder offices, and included the same provisions for deferral and waiver, sanctions, good cause and right of appeal.
Source: Social Security (Incapacity Benefit Work-Focused Interviews) Regulations 2003: Explanatory Memorandum, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: SSAC press release | DWP explanatory memorandum (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
An official survey examined the attitudes of incapacity benefit claimants and Jobcentre Plus staff, prior to the introduction of pilot schemes aimed at moving IB claimants off benefit and into work. Some confusion was found regarding the level of intervention staff should provide, with staff expecting claimants to be more proactive.
Source: Carol Goldstone and Laurette Douglas, Pathways to Work from Incapacity Benefits: Pre-pilot exploration of staff and customer attitudes, W162, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: W162 (pdf) | W162 summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
The government published the responses to a consultation exercise on incapacity benefit recipients. It said that most people endorsed the proposals in the consultation document. It confirmed that, starting from October 2003, it would go ahead with pilot schemes designed to provide more effective support, advice and encouragement to assist people on incapacity benefit to remain in work or, should they leave a job, return to employment as soon as possible.
Source: Pathways to Work: Helping people into employment - Government s response and action plan, Cm 5830, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | DWP press release | Green Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A think-tank report said that, although advances had been made, government measures aimed at getting disabled people into work still focused on the individual disabled person, with insufficient attention given to the role of the employer or to effective rehabilitation policies and services.
Source: Kate Stanley and Sue Regan, The Missing Million: Supporting disabled people into work, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: IPPR press release
Date: 2003-Jun
Disabled people won a landmark Law Lords ruling giving them the right to challenge a negative reference provided by a former employer.
Source: Relaxion Group plc (Respondents) v. Rhys-Harper (FC) (Appellant), D'Souza (Appellant) v. London Borough of Lambeth (Respondents), Jones (Appellant) v. 3M Healthcare Limited (Respondents) and three other actions, UKHL 33 (Session 2002-03), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Disability Rights Commission press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
Researchers examined results-based funding for supported employment projects for disabled people. They found that adverse selection of clients ('creaming') was a potentially serious problem with this form of funding, and that there was little direct evidence of the effectiveness of measures to prevent it.
Source: Anne Corden and Patricia Thornton, Results-based Funded Supported Employment: Avoiding disincentives to serving people with greatest need, W160, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: W160 (pdf) | W160 summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
The 'job retention and rehabilitation pilot' began on 1 April 2003. It was designed to examine the barriers preventing people from returning to work after sickness absence, and find ways of overcoming them.
Source: Press release 13.3.03, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: DWP press release
Date: 2003-Apr
A survey found that 45 per cent of employers said they would not be able to employ a disabled person because of the assumed cost, while 40 per cent did not know whether their premises were accessible.
Source: Liz Daone and Ruth Scott, Ready, Willing and Disabled, Scope (020 7619 7341)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Scope press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
An annual business survey found that the number of working days lost through sickness absence fell by 5.7 per cent in 2002, from 176 million in 2001 to 166 million in 2002 - the lowest figure recorded since the survey began in 1987.
Source: The Lost Billions, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: CBI press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
A committee of MPs said that a substantial number of the 2.7 million incapacity benefits claimants represented 'hidden unemployment' (although this did not mean that people had wrongly or fraudulently claimed). It said it supported re-naming incapacity benefit, to help to dispel the myth that many disabled people were unable to work. It also recommended that all frontline staff should undergo disability awareness training to prevent disabled people becoming further disillusioned with the employment service.
Source: Employment for All: Interim report, Fourth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 401-I, House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Work Foundation press release
Date: 2003-Apr
An evaluation of the supported employment programme found high levels of satisfaction among disabled people. People with mental health problems or learning difficulties appeared to benefit most.
Source: Stephen Beyer, James Thomas and Patricia Thornton, The Net Costs and Individual Benefits of the Supported Employment Programme, W152, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 209 8274)
Links: DWP reports index page
Date: 2003-Apr
A report set out the first results from research on employer involvement with the New Deal for Disabled People. Awareness of the programme among employers was found to be relatively low.
Source: Jane Aston, John Atkinson, Ceri Evans, S. Davis, Siobh n O Regan, Employers and the New Deal for Disabled People: Qualitative Research - First Wave, WAE 145, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 259 6278)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Mar
A report contained an evaluation of the 'supported employment programme' for disabled people. Satisfaction with the programme was generally high in the areas of job finding and training, but low in relation to gaining qualifications and welfare benefit advice.
Source: Stephen Beyer, James Thorne and Patricia Thornton, The Net Costs and Individual Benefits of the Supported Employment Programme, WAE 152, Department for Work and Pensions (0114 259 6278)
Links: None
Date: 2003-Mar
The Social Security Advisory Committee began consultation on government proposals to tighten the definition of 'exceptional circumstances' where a person with insufficient points under the personal capability assessment (for incapacity benefit and certain others) may be treated as incapable of work. (This followed a Court of Appeal judgement on 8 November 2002.) Campaigners reportedly called the proposals 'sneaky', and said that some people, such as those with mental health problems, could fail the assessment but still be unable to work because a secondary factor, such as stress, triggers their condition.
Source: Press release 10.3.03, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171) | Community Care, 18.3.03
Links: DWP press release | Memorandum to SSAC | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Mar
Analysis of the 2001 Census results for England and Wales showed that almost 9.5 million people (18.2 per cent) said they had a long-term illness, health problem or disability which limited their daily activities or the work they could do. Of these, 4.3 million were of working age, more than 1 in 8 of the age group.
Source: Press release 13.2.03, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Census website | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Responding to a government Green Paper on incapacity benefit recipients, campaigners argued that a proper level of financial support for those out of work is essential if people are to remain socially included and to provide a suitable platform from which people can engage in jobsearch and training activities.
Source: Pathways to Work: Helping people into employment - Response, R36, Disability Alliance (020 7247 8776)
Links: Response (pdf) | Green Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A report examined employment retention after the onset of sickness and disability. It found that three risk factors for job retention are specific to the onset of sickness or disability: reporting mental health problems (a particularly strong effect), being aged 45 or over (especially for receipt of sick pay or incapacity benefit), and living in a region with low labour demand.
Source: Tania Burchardt, Employment Retention and the Onset of Sickness or Disability: Evidence from Labour Force Survey (LFS) longitudinal datasets, In-House Report 109, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A new Disability Employment Advisory Committee met for the first time. The committee was established to advise the government on the labour market barriers faced by disabled people and develop recommendations to overcome them. The committee is made up of people from leading companies, trade unions, organisations of and for disabled people, and providers of services for disabled people.
Source: Press release 28.1.03, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Jan