Work Choice: a drop in a leaky bucket

With the latest series of The Apprentice reaching its finale, meaning that we've discovered which "lucky" contestant walked away with first prize, a £100,000 job with Lord Sugar, Ruth Patrick says it's timely to turn our attentions from reality TV to the lived reality faced by disabled people seeking to enter paid employment

If you’re disabled and loking for work, the reality – rather less glamorous than that of the TV show – is one of deep-rooted physical, societal and attitudinal barriers which too often operate to hi-jack disabled people’s efforts to secure work. As the Government continually reminds us, there is the “missing million”: a million disabled people aspiring to enter work but still outside the labour force. At the same time, there are some disabled people who simply cannot work due to the severity and nature of their impairments. Unfortunately, all must endure Government rhetoric, increasingly rubbing off on public opinion, which suggests that work is the primary duty of the responsible citizen, with benefit claiming caricatured for all but the most vulnerable as a passive, rather unpatriotic lifestyle choice.

But do not panic, help is at hand and all will be well! In October, the Coalition launched Work Choice – a specialist programme of support to assist disabled people with the most complex barriers to move into paid employment. Work Choice replaces the support previously provided by Workstep, Work Preparation and Job Introduction. Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller promises: “Work Choice will ensure people facing the biggest barriers to work get the intensive support they need.”

Well forgive the cynicism, Maria, but I for one am unconvinced. The help provided by Work Choice will reach a rather miserly 23,000 disabled people a year. No doubt the Government would justify this by arguing that the specialist help offered by Work Choice will be targeted at those facing the most intransigent barriers, with the rest supported by the shiny new Work Programme, due to be launched in Summer 2011. However, hundreds of thousands of disabled people come up against complex barriers to work, particularly those on Incapacity Benefit who will have their eligibility for benefits re-assessed from March next year.

These drastic and ill-judged reforms will employ a faulty Work Capability Assessment to determine existing disability benefit claimants’ capability for work, with the Government estimating that some 23% of Incapacity Benefit claimants will be found “fit for work”.

Instead of the paltry Work Choice, a much more ambitious programme is required if the affected individuals are to enter work rather than simply being shoved off disability benefits onto the markedly less generous and more demanding Job Seeker’s Allowance.

What is more, these reforms coincide with sweeping cuts to public services which are anticipated to result in around 500,000 job losses in the public sector. This is bad news for disabled people, who have traditionally found the public sector more accessible and disability-friendly than the corporate world. So we have a situation which sees the sector most amenable to employing disabled people shrink, at the same time as a large proportion of disabled people are being “encouraged” off welfare into work.

Whilst Work Choice is a worthy programme, its modesty makes it incapable of even beginning to address the scale of the challenge. Indeed, the Government’s whole approach on disability and employment is flawed. All their energies and resources are focused on “supporting” disabled people to become more “employable” and confident – or “job ready” to use the correct jargon. This rather perniciously suggests that it is disabled people who need to change to adapt to the demands of the workplace. The reality, as we all know, is rather different. Where change is required is with society, and with the endurance of inaccessible workplaces, unavailable transport and the ongoing culture of stigma, discrimination and low expectations of the capabilities and expertise of disabled people. If the Government really wants to support the missing million, it must take radical action to create a more equal and accessible workplace for all. Work Transformation not Work Choice is what is required.