Identifying barriers to accessing employment is a key interest of the Committee.

Statistics show that disabled people in Scotland have a lower employment rate than non-disabled people. This is known as “the disability employment gap”.

The Committee would like to understand what more can be done to reduce this and ensure disabled people can access employment. 

The Committee undertook some initial work on the disability employment gap in 2023.

This included:

• visits
• an evidence session with stakeholder organisations on 25 January 2023
• an evidence session with the then Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work on 8 February 2023

A letter with the Committee’s initial findings was sent to the then Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy. This letter, and the Cabinet Secretary’s response, can be accessed in the correspondence section.

The Committee agreed to undertake an inquiry to build on this initial work.

Remit

The Committee will consider:

• the help available for disabled people to get back into the labour market
• available support for employers for more inclusive recruitment practices and workplaces
• specific barriers faced by people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people; and
• the employment support systems for disabled people.