New strategy: Government launches National Disability Strategy

The new Strategy contains 100 practical commitments (for which £1.6 billion has been allocated), including:

• An online advice hub for disabled employees and their employers.
• A disability work ‘passport’, to be piloted shortly, to help disabled students transition more easily to the world of work and existing workers to move between jobs more easily, by making the type of reasonable adjustments required for each disabled person more transparent and understandable.
• A requirement for statutory company reports for larger companies (250+) to include information on numbers of disabled workers employed by the company (to be consulted on later in the year).

The launch coincides with:

• The government publishing its response to the consultation ‘Health is Everyone's Business’, which aims to reduce health-related job losses by encouraging employers to be more proactive and act earlier to support employees with long-term health issues.
• The government’s Green Paper ‘Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper’, asking for ways to help the disabled live more independently, do better in the workplace and interact better with the benefits system.

Operative date

• Now

Recommendation

• Employers may wish to view the Strategy, the Green Paper, and the government response to the ‘Health is Everyone’s Business’ consultation on the GOV.UK website, consult with staff and review their policies, procedures and practices to identify whether they could introduce upcoming changes now to improve the workplace for their disabled workers.