Selaine Saxby: Our challenge to break down barriers to work for the disabled

To help more disabled people get into work, we need to improve accessibility in areas such as physical infrastructure, digital platforms and workplace policies.

Being part of the Work and Pensions Select Committee has shown me that there are many barriers that disabled people face which we cannot fathom, especially in a remote rural and coastal area such as North Devon.

Whilst it is welcome news that the disability employment rate has risen in recent years, the disability employment gap (the difference between the proportions of disabled and non disabled people in work) has flatlined at around 29 percentage points.

The committee is conducting a follow-up to its 2021 inquiry into the disability employment gap, which highlighted the need for more comprehensive and effective measures to support disabled employment and reduce the disability employment gap.

On a local level, so many employers have taken significant steps to become disability confident and I have spoken to many of them through our fantastic local Job Centre team, who do so much to link employers and potential employees.

I met with the Job Centre in Barnstaple recently and spoke at a disability confident event last year, linking my work in Westminster to encourage employers locally to find ways to work with more disabled potential employees.

But I have also had conversations with disabled residents at surgeries who are concerned about barriers preventing them from being able to work. One of them is a young campaigner from Braunton, Ella Wakley.

Individuals like Ella are hardworking and ambitious.

She attends college and would like to go out independently with her friends more but she needs her e-scooter as an extension of herself to be able to go through life with freedom and independence.

She has also raised with me the issue of timings for blue badge bus passes and, most significantly, her petition to ensure that blue badge holders can use personal electric vehicles on public land.

After our initial meeting, I took the opportunity to raise Ella’s case to three separate departments: Transport, Women and Equalities, and Education.

I also contacted Devon County Council about using blue badges before 9.30am.

It is often the case that residents with disabilities need to access public transport before 9.30 to go to work and college.

This is a complicated issue and I would like to thank ministers from multiple departments for their ongoing engagement.

Being the MP for North Devon means that I have the opportunity to take Ella’s fight to government, so I did.

I was delighted to welcome Ella and her parents to Westminster to meet with Transport Minister, Anthony Browne to see and hear first hand how life changing it would be if we could amend the legislation for blue badge holders.

Many more people have submitted their testimonies on how this change in the law would help them with everyday life and I have passed this on to the relevant ministers and look forward to meeting  Disability Minister Mims Davies with Ella soon.

Our Conservative Government prides itself on getting people back to work. It has increased support through the disability confident scheme Access to Work to assist with recruitment amongst other government initiatives.

Whilst the case I share above is an unusual case, I hope that together we can raise awareness about the importance of access to work for people with different disabilities and needs, which can often be even more challenging in rural areas.