1. Improving employment opportunities for disabled people Mark Behrendt Principal Policy Officer Corporate Policy Unit

2. 12.4% (21346 people) of the population of Richmond has a disability 69% (14728 people) are economically active compared to a London average of 49.9% Economic activity rate for non disabled people is 78.1% However, only 2.7% of our workforce has a disability despite their being 8.5% of the boroughs working residents being disabled Significant proportion of the council’s disabled clients of working age are unemployed Current situation

3. Remove barriers within the council to the employment of Disabled people Improve support for all our disabled clients in finding employment What does the council need to do?

4. Senior management and councillors recognising that the council’s work force must be more representative and that there are some significant barriers that need to be removed The Disability Discrimination Act and the Disability Equality Duty Local Public Service Agreement targets What is driving change?

5. Largest employer is the council – we need to set an example Using the Disability Equality Duty to be more proactive. Example - scheme is to remove the barriers to employing people with learning disabilities Removing Barriers

6. Changes to HR policies Support for People with Learning Disabilities Support for managers Example: Making Positive Changes for people with learning disabilities

7. Support available for people with Mental Health problems and for people with Learning Disabilities Gaps in the provision of employment support for people with physical and sensory impairments Barriers to extending support Improve pathways to the support that is available Supporting disabled people to find employment

8. Change has started Long term and sustainable improvements Continuous change and improvement Any questions? Conclusion