Written evidence from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) JES0026

 

About RNIB

In the UK there are 350,000 registered blind or partially sighted people. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is the UK’s leading sight loss charity and the largest community of blind and partially sighted people. As part of our work, we deliver employment services to help people with sight loss retain work and provide support and advice to employers looking to recruit or retain someone with sight loss.

 

What is driving increases in economic inactivity - for example amongst people with health conditions and older people?

Overcoming barriers to employment is one of the biggest challenges faced by people with sight loss, with only one in four registered blind and partially sighted people of working age in employment [1]. Despite improvements in technology and innovations like screen readers and smartphones, this figure has not changed in a generation.

 

A recurring challenge for blind and partially sighted people is that information such as job adverts, information on training schemes, and forms, is rarely in an accessible format. The lack of materials available in large print or braille restricts the number of jobs some blind and partially sighted people can apply for. Under the Equality Act, employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for their employees. However, our research tells us that people who are blind or partially sighted are still not receiving adequate provision. Our 2019 research included a YouGov poll of 526 employers. 23% of employers said they were not willing to make adaptations to employ someone with a visual impairment despite legal obligations under the Act [2].

 

Our research found misconceptions about employing someone with sight loss, with half of employers thinking there may be additional health and safety risks in the workplace for the employee if they were to employ a blind or partially sighted person [3]. Our research also highlighted that one-third of people with sight loss who are not in work said the biggest barrier to them getting a job was the attitude of employers [4]. The Disability Unit needs to place greater focus on changing attitudes in the workplace and educating employers to ensure their practices and workplace environments are inclusive and accessible for blind and partially sighted people, including for employees who develop sight loss.

 

The Department for Work and Pensions should establish (DWP) accountability and credible performance measures to ensure that Disability Confident employers recruit disabled people and provide supportive and inclusive work environments. The Government should also consider providing financial incentives to businesses engaging in workforce reporting and achieving Level 3 in the Disability Confident Scheme.

 

Employers should be encouraged to align their working practices to the RNIB Visibly Better Employer quality standard. The Visibly Better scheme examines how inclusive an employer’s practices are for both existing staff with sight loss and potential future applicants, provides recommendations for improvement, and, after implementation of suggested changes, awards the employer Visibly Better Employer status.

 

It is also important the Government collects more detailed data that not only shows the overall disability employment gap, but a breakdown within that figure, to ensure no-one is being left behind. RNIB’s recent survey showed the disability employment gap for blind and partially sighted people is around double that for other disabled people [5]. This is gap is widening, but instead needs to be closed.

 

One specific challenge we experience is a lack of clarity of definitions of sight loss, resulting in differing interpretations of data. For example, the Labour Force Survey uses a subjective definition of sight loss and identifies a wide range of people with sight loss, including those who are not registered blind or partially sighted, and those who would not meet the World Health Organisation’s definition of partial sight. It also only highlights employment rate by “main disability”, potentially excluding many blind and partially sighted people who have multiple disabilities or health conditions from the employment figures. As a result, the Government’s understanding of the employment of blind and partially sighted people and ours is very different.

 

We would welcome the opportunity to develop and establish clear and agreed definitions of sight loss alongside sight loss organisations and the Government. RNIB’s data team is available to advise and support with this.

 

[1] Slade, Edwards, 2015. My Voice 2015. RNIB. Available from http://www.rnib.org.uk/myvoice

[2] Slade, Edwards, and Crawley, 2020. Employment for blind and partially sighted people in 2019. RNIB. Available from Employment research - RNIB - See differently

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

 

How could DWP work more effectively with employers to ensure that people coming through Jobcentre Plus are well-equipped to fill vacancies?

Access to Work (AtW) is a scheme run by Jobcentre Plus. The scheme provides practical support and advice to disabled people and employers and is key to supporting employers to recruit disabled people.

 

For many blind and partially sighted people, AtW is highly-valued, and support through the scheme is critical to their prospects of finding and retaining employment. However, the timeliness of this support – as well as its quality - is often crucial in the world of employment. Since winter 2021, the scheme has been affected by delays of several months. We are seeing the worrying consequences of the AtW application and renewal delays, which are severely compromising many of our employees’ and customers’ ability to secure or maintain employment. This is more important than ever during the current rise in the cost of living.

 

We welcome the measures introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to address the AtW delays, including overtime working and the employment of additional staff. While we understand it will take time to train the new staff and work through the backlog in cases, we strongly feel that additional measures now need to be urgently put in place so customers, particularly those already in work, facing long delays and employers can access vital support in a timely manner.

 

In addition, Access to Work needs to be better promoted. Blind and partially sighted people and employers are often unaware of the scheme, which is sometimes referred to as ‘the government's best kept secret’. A survey by the Centre for Social Justice found just 25 per cent of employers knew about the scheme. Our experience tells us that awareness of Access to Work is low amongst blind and partially sighted people seeking work. Access to Work should be promoted to employers more widely by the DWP/ by Government?. RNIB also recommends that The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) should include reference to Access to Work in their business guidance as standard. 

 

A common frustration amongst many blind and partially sighted people is the attitude of Jobcentre and Access to Work staff towards them. In our autumn 2021 survey, 61% of respondents said work coaches and 43% said Access to Work advisors did not have good knowledge and understanding of sight loss and the support and adjustments blind and partially sighted people need. Blind and partially sighted people have told RNIB:

 

“Access to Work is a fantastic service, but most of the advisers seem to have no knowledge of sight loss and just how much technology can assist.”

 

Last time I received equipment [through AtW] to help with my job I didn’t feel I was properly assessed. They asked me what I thought I needed, which I could only base on previous experience. Some of the equipment wasn’t suitable and there may have been other things that may have been useful which I wasn’t aware of.”

 

“In my experience job coaches don't really know what to do with you as a blind person, so are not much help when it comes to actually finding employment opportunities.”

 

“Work coaches need much more training in helping disabled and visually impaired people access correct information.”

 

If Jobcentres and Access to Work advisors are to provide expert and personalised support, better training needs to be provided by the DWP? to those assessing and assisting blind and partially sighted job seekers and employees. This should include use of the ‘Understanding Sight Loss for Professionals’ E-Learning training that has been designed in partnership with RNIB and the DWP Training Provision.

 

 

 

September 2022