Written evidence from Michael Stephney (DEG0148)

My name is Michael Stephney. 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'm autistic with a mild learning disability. I would need a mentor to support me in a work setting. There are not many jobs out there now for people like me yet i do want to work but need some support. I'm at college at the moment for Horticulture as the only opportunities available to me was Horticulture or cooking. Both of these jobs in the future may be hard for me as my hands are weak for cutting or using some machinery.

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

Remploy used to employ someone like me but we have closed these down now along with lots of other jobs in favour of technology.

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.

Kind regards,

Michael Stephney

SE23 3BG

Dear Committee Members,

My name is Michael Stephney. 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'm autistic with a mild learning disability. I would need a mentor to support me in a work setting. There are not many jobs out there now for people like me yet i do want to work but need some support. I'm at college at the moment for Horticulture as the only opportunities available to me was Horticulture or cooking. Both of these jobs in the future may be hard for me as my hands are weak for cutting or using some machinery.

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

Remploy used to employ someone like me but we have closed these down now along with lots of other jobs in favour of technology.

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