A-million-futures-halving-the-disability-employment-gap.pdf?ext=

The only occupations which buckthis trend are service, sales andelementary jobs, where disabledpeople are both overrepresentedand jobs areexpected to be created. Yet thereare not nearly enough jobs inthese sectors alone to accountfor the number of jobs requiredto support more disabled peopleinto work. These sectors arealso typically poorly paid, whichwould undermine the potential ofwork to improve disabledpeople’s living standards.A second challenge for disabledpeople is the declining growth inpublic sector organisations,where some disabled peoplecan find it easier to find work. [45]An Institute for Fiscal Studiesanalysis of Government datashows that there is projected tobe a fall of 1.1 million jobs in thepublic sector between 2010 / 11and 2017 / 17 – a drop of up to40%. [46] This will affect disabledpeople, who make up 13% of thepublic sector workforce,compared with 11% of theprivate sector workforce. [47]Berthoud (2011) found animportant correlation betweenthe employment rate gap and theoverall level of employment in agiven area. This is particularlymarked in the public sectorwhich implies the need for aregional approach to addressingemployment issues fordisabled people.In 2012-13,four in 10 in workhad been with thesame employer forten years or more.This mismatch betweenoccupations and jobs growth isexacerbated by how difficultdisabled people find it to movebetween jobs. Scope analysis ofthe Labour Force Survey showsthat disabled people areconsiderably more likely to haveremained with the sameemployer for 10 years or more.In 2012-2013, 39% of disabledemployed people had beenemployed continuously for thesame employer for 10 years ormore, compared with 31% ofnon-disabled people. [48]This can be seen as positive foremployers, who are able toemploy disabled people with anunderstanding that they will be‘loyal’ members of staff. Butbeing less likely to move jobscould also undermine disabledpeople’s opportunity to progress.It also implies that any policyinterventions that attempt toresolve the mismatch betweenoccupations and jobs growthneed to look beyond skills, andseek to address the barriers thatdisabled people face in movingbetween jobs and climbingprogression ladders.Government policy mustensure disabled people canbenefit from growthChanges in the labour marketare undermining disabledpeople’s opportunities to benefitfrom growth. For work to act asa route to higher living standardsfor disabled people, theGovernment has to intervene toensure that disabled people areable to benefit from new jobs.The Coalition’s new programmeof City Deals is an opportunityto making this happen. Bydevolving powers and funding tocities and city regions, these‘bespoke’ regional growthstrategies are uniquely placed toensure that particular groups canbenefit from job creation.This principle was establishedlast year, when the Governmentannounced a £50 million ‘youthcontract for cities’, which aims toincentivise cities to support up to25,000 young people into workover the next three years. [49]How can City Deals benefitdisabled people?1. Disabled people’semployment rate variesregionallyOne of the biggest opportunitieswithin the City Deals structure isthe ability to link skills trainingwith demand for jobs in the localeconomy, closing the ‘skills gap’between priorities for localbusiness and training availableto the workforce. Particularlythrough the emerging SkillsBoards, policy-makers are ableto work with businesses toidentify future demands for skillsand labour in a particular area.18 19