Recognition of the Disability at Work Academics

That this House recognises the invaluable contribution of the research conducted by the four academic members of disability@work, Professors Nick Bacon, Kim Hoque, Melanie Jones and Victoria Wass, on improving the lives of disabled people in Britain by co-authoring the APPG for Disability Ahead of the Arc report on the disability employment gap, and subsequently working with the APPG to seek the incorporation of the report's recommendations into government policy; notes that the report provided a critical reflection on, and evaluation of, Government disability employment commitments; further notes that the report highlighted the size and enduring nature of the disability employment gap, and welcomes the report’s recommendations on how disability inequality should be measured in national statistics and surveys, on encouraging and informing organisational disability data collection and reporting, on promoting a more positive view across Government in relation to the contribution of disabled people to the economy, on developing an understanding of the workplace-level practices that would better support disabled people, on evaluating the impact and required reform of Disability Confident, on the potential for public sector procurement to improve disabled people's employment outcomes, on ensuring the inclusion of disabled people's employment in the Industrial Strategy, on the contribution of the labour movement in supporting disabled people, and on the need for a coordinated approach to disability-related policymaking across Government.