Skip to main content

Language: English / GĂ idhlig

Loading…

Chamber and committees

Economy and Fair Work Committee

Disability employment gap

Identifying barriers to accessing employment is a key interest of the Committee.

Statistics show that disabled people in Scotland have a lower employment rate than non-disabled people. This is known as “the disability employment gap”.

The Committee would like to understand what more can be done to reduce this and ensure disabled people can access employment. 

The Committee undertook some initial work on the disability employment gap in 2023.

This included:

  • visits
  • an evidence session with stakeholder organisations on 25 January 2023
  • an evidence session with the then Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work on 8 February 2023

A letter with the Committee’s initial findings was sent to the then Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy. This letter, and the Cabinet Secretary’s response, can be accessed in the correspondence section.

The Committee agreed to undertake an inquiry to build on this initial work.

Remit

The Committee will consider:

  • the help available for disabled people to get back into the labour market
  • available support for employers for more inclusive recruitment practices and workplaces
  • specific barriers faced by people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people; and
  • the employment support systems for disabled people.

Call for views (closed)

Meetings

The inquiry was discussed at the following Committee meetings:

Engagement

During the initial work, members of the Committee visited:

National Autistic Society Scotland

ENABLE

All in Dundee

Dovetail Enterprises

Members of the Committee intend to meet informally with more organisations and individuals over the next couple of months in addition to formal evidence sessions at Holyrood.

Correspondence

The Committee has sent and received the following correspondence during the inquiry:

Disability Employment Gap report - Response from the Scottish Government

Letter from the Minister for Employment and Investment, 10 December 2024

Disability employment gap

Letter from Skills Development Scotland, 28 June 2024

No One Left Behind Budget Release

Letter from the Minister for Employment and Investment, 14 June 2024

Disability Employment Gap - Response from the Scottish Government

Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, 12 May 2023

Disability Employment Gap

Letter to the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, 19 April 2023