Around 19,000 employers are currently signed up to the Scheme, but, despite wide take up, its impact has not met expectations, writes David Mills, National Head of Employment Law with Mills & Reeve.
The number of economically inactive people of working age has continued to rise, and ill-health remains the most significant reason for people being out of the workforce. There are now believed to as many as 2.8 million people who are economically inactive due to health conditions, 800,000 more than in 2019.
One of the levers the Government is planning to pull is to address the criticisms of the Scheme in the Keep Britain Working Report. The key changes are to reduce the time employers can remain at the entry level from three years to two, and to remove the option for them to renew at this level to encourage employers to progress up the Scheme. The Government is also planning to give more tailored support to SMEs.
In addition, Government wants to ensure that the views of disabled people are reflected throughout the Scheme. The first step in that direction has already been taken, with the launch of the Disability Advisory Panel, which held its first meeting on 23 January. The panel comprises ten people with long-term health conditions who have been appointed to advise the Government.
It is hoped that these changes, in conjunction with other measures such as the roll out of the Workwell scheme announced on 20 January, will provide more effective support to employers and so help boost the proportion of disabled people in employment. There is certainly ample scope for improvement, since their overall employment rate is more than 20 percentage points lower than the general population, with certain groups faring even worse.
