Deaf News: Action on Hearing Loss call on government to improve employment support for deaf people

Posted on July 9, 2013 by


The 'Work in Progress' report cover.National charity Action on Hearing Loss have teamed up with other charities to produce a report into the problems people with disabilities face with employment support, they announced today.

Called ‘Work in Progress’ the report is co-written with Scope, RNIB, Mind and Mencap and calls on the government to urgently rethink employment support for people with disabilities.

The report makes a number of practical recommendations for the Department for Work and Pensions, the government department with overall responsibility for employment support, including:

  • There needs to be greater involvement of employers in the design and delivery of employment support;
  • The Government should incentivise greater localisation of employment support for disabled people in order to stimulate innovation;
  • A more targeted approach should be taken for young disabled people who face particular challenges and often cannot access effective support.

Despite the £320 million invested in specialist disability employment support every year, local examples of good practice are being stifled by a lack of funding and there remains a particularly urgent need to increase and improve provision for young people, many of whom lack good employment opportunities. Action on Hearing Loss’ Laura Ringham blogs about it here.

This report comes hot off the heels of news from the Snowdon Trust that deaf students opportunities are limited by caps on funding for support and some deaf people don’t even mention it if they want a chance of an interview..

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Posted in: deaf news