Written evidence from Name Withheld (DEG0023)

I am responding to your call for evidence through Scope, the disability equality charity. I want to share my experiences of the barriers I've faced getting into work and what can be improved to help disabled people in the future.

I've answered two questions below as part of your call for evidence.

What extra support would you benefit from to get into work?

I was employed by a government department, the DWP, however over a period of time I was bullied and harassed by two managers, they used my physical and especially mental health issues as weapons against me, at one point I made an attempt on my life and in the end things got so bad I had no option but to resign, I was hoping to take ill health retirement, but due to a previous government making pension cutbacks within it's own departments, I had no option but to turn it down and go on state benefits. Over the years I've contact at least two PMs only to be fobbed of by HR with excuses.

Looking to the future, what does the Government need to improve on to help disabled people get into, stay and progress in work?

The first thing the government needs to do is to admit there are issues of bullying and harassment of physical and mentally ill members of staff in it's own departments, get the matter dealt with before they can make Hoc statements about how much they help the disabled. I tell people not to trust any government department because of my own experiences at the hands of management when I was employed at the DWP.

The disability employment gap has been stuck close to 30 percent for over a decade, and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic has seen disabled people falling out of work faster than non-disabled people. 

Scope wants the Government to deliver on its pledge to tackle the disability employment gap. The Government must use the opportunity of the forthcoming National Strategy for Disabled People to set out plans to close the gap.

I hope that the evidence I have provided, alongside research from Scope will prove useful to the committee.

December 2020