Disability Confident campaign targets low employment rates for disabled adults

Gloucestershire County Council will spend the next few months helping and encouraging businesses to employ more disabled people, having become the chosen authority to spearhead the Prime Minister’s Disability Confident campaign.

Preparing the way for the campaign to go nationwide, the aim is to enlighten businesses so that the needs of disabled adults are better understood within the workplace, breaking down barriers to employment with the aim of impacting upon a national employment rate of 47.8 per cent, performing poorly against the 75.9 per cent average.

Cabinet member with responsibility for disabilities, Kathy Williams, is delighted that Gloucestershire businesses have the chance of taking the first step and insists that the council itself will lead ‘by example’.

She comments: “We are passionate about helping people with disabilities gain employment because of the real difference it makes to people’s lives and the benefits it can bring to local business.

“As one of the county’s largest employers Gloucestershire County Council is committed to leading by example and is developing a strategy which will see a workforce which is representative of the people that we serve.

“Through county council initiatives like Forward to Work Clubs and the successful 30/30 Challenge which has now become the 50/50 Challenge and rising, we are encouraging employers to offer employment and work experience to people with disabilities too.

“Being selected as the first local authority partner for this national campaign is a real feather in our cap.”

As an employer, the council itself has already seen success in bringing disabled adults into the workplace through the implementation of a Forwards to Work Club.

For example, Glenn is an adult with Asperger’s syndrome who has been successful in securing an apprenticeship at the authority’s research and analysis department, made possible by giving him the time and opportunity to adapt to social situations that are challenging to adults with his condition.

Club coordinator, Marcus Grant, explains: “The new apprenticeship style role at Gloucestershire County Council allows Glenn to demonstrate his considerable skills and talents as a strategic thinker.”

He continues: “Glenn first came to us in 2011 and is a man transformed thanks to Forwards, Remploy and Gloucestershire County Council. From barely saying a word when we first worked with him he is now helping other members of the Forwards club log onto the Internet, search for jobs and do their CVs.”

Glenn’s manager Louise Li adds, “He has worked hard to learn, to fit in, and to overcome his initial anxiety in some work or social situations to achieve his goal of finding employment.

“As his mentor, I have witnessed him growing in confidence in a large office, sharing jokes with colleagues and looking happy. He is one of our team.”

Glenn comments, “My experience of working as an apprentice at Gloucestershire County Council at Shire Hall has been good from the start. The staff here have been kind and friendly, the tasks I have been set to do are real challenges and I enjoy doing them. I am much more confident now than I was when I was struggling to look for a job.”

A national roadshow will take place this year to help businesses find out more on how their workplace can develop and benefit from being more disability friendly.