Research exploring ways to improve the Disability Confident Employer Scheme in Wales - Background

In July 2021, the Locked out: liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19 report highlighted the inequalities experienced by disabled people in society. One of the Welsh Government’s responses to the report was to set up the Disability Rights Taskforce, a partnership between Welsh Government and disabled people. The Taskforce operated on the principle of co-production, with more than 200 Welsh Government policy officials and 350 external stakeholders working together to develop recommendations, aimed at improving outcomes for all disabled people in Wales. These recommendations have been used to inform the outcomes and actions of the Disabled People’s Rights Plan.

In September 2023, the DRTF agreed to collaborate with the Equality, Race and Disability Evidence Units (ERDEU) with the aim of co-producing GSR informed by lived experience. It would test the extent to which GSR can be coproduced, working together to navigate barriers and embrace enablers for change.

The research aimed to test an alternative way of conducting research alongside representatives of disabled people and in line with the principles of the social model of disability. A ‘co-producer’ is identified as a member of the cross-sector team who worked together to prototype co-production of a GSR report.

The research aimed to enable delivery of the ERDEU’s mission, ‘to improve the availability, quality, granularity and accessibility of evidence about individuals with protected and associated characteristics so that we fully understand the level and types of inequalities in Wales.’

The ambition, as part of contributing to a more equal Wales, was to enable decision makers to develop better informed policies and drive better outcomes for people. 

The research was intended to strengthen the legacy of the DRTF through further exploring the recommendations. Two recommendations were selected by DRTF Chairs for researching, including one from the Employment and Income Group which is the focus of this report.

This section includes a summary of the main discussion points from the DRTF ‘Employment and Income Working Group’ which met six times between March and December 2023. The working group consisted of disabled people and organisations representing them, Welsh Government policy officials, trade union representatives, employers and academics. Recommendations were co-created by the working group and then presented to the full DRTF. The Minister responsible for employment attended the final meeting. 

The working group meetings explored a range of barriers faced by disabled people relating to employment and income. Disabled people shared their lived experiences of trying to access and remain in employment. Themes that emerged from these experiences included poor employer understanding of The Equalities Act (2010), particularly the duty to make reasonable adjustments. Low provision of flexible working arrangements, a lack of tailored support and training, inflexible job design and negative attitudes towards disabled people were also discussed. A reluctance to self-identify as disabled because of fear, discrimination and a poor understanding of workplace rights were experiences voiced by many disabled participants. 

Two existing government initiatives were discussed by the working group: the UK Government Access to Work Scheme and its Disability Confident Employer Scheme. In relation to the Disability Confident Employer Scheme working group members felt that, in its current form, the scheme lacked credibility and needed reform. 

Working group members agreed that in principle, an employer scheme that resulted in better employment practices for disabled people was a good idea. However, many disabled people had little confidence that the current Disability Confident scheme achieved this. 

The scheme has 3 levels. Levels 1 and 2 are viewed as neither ‘fit for purpose’ or ‘challenging’. Both can also be achieved by employer self-assessment rather than external inspection and accreditation. Level 3 is regarded as more comprehensive and requires significantly more work for employers. Evaluation and inspection are an element, although these are undertaken by another Level 3 organisation within the scheme, not an independent body that had the confidence of all disabled people. The lack of effort required by employers to achieve Level 1 of the scheme was viewed as particularly patronising and self-defeating. Level 3 by contrast demands greater commitment from employers, but it was noted currently only 40 employers in Wales have achieved Level 3 Disability Confident Leadership status, just 12 in the private sector. It should be stated that these figures may have increased since the original recommendation was made. 

Working group members suggested that the current Disability Confident scheme needs to be more rigorous, involve more disabled people and organisations representing them in evaluations and demonstrate tangible benefits for disabled people. They proposed new ideas to improve the scheme, such as a distinct employer’s kitemark for Wales, an enhanced scheme with a Welsh element, or to seek improvements to the current UK-wide scheme. There were concerns expressed by some that there were currently no dedicated resources at regional level to improve the scheme in this way, and for it to be robust, these would be needed. The potential possibilities and limitations of reforming the current Disability Confident Employer Scheme formed the basis for this research project. 

I would like to thank all members of the Working Group whose contributions and ideas inspired this research.

For the year ending June 2024 in Wales, there were 50.9% of disabled people in employment (aged 16 to 64) compared to 81.6% of non-disabled people. The employment rate gap for disabled people in the year ending June 2024 stood at 30.7 percentage points. 

In addition to this, in 2022 to 2023, disabled people or people with a limiting long-standing illness were more than twice as likely to live in a household in material deprivation than those who are not disabled. One in four disabled people or people with a limiting long-standing illness (25%) lived in a household in material deprivation compared with 11% of people who were not disabled.       

For disabled people in employment, the pay difference between disabled and non-disabled people in Wales was £1.75 (12.2%) in 2023. This means that disabled people in Wales earned, on average, £1.75 less per hour than non-disabled people.

The research aim was to further explore the DRTF Working Group recommendations, relating to the Disability Confident Employer Scheme as described above with a range of stakeholders. Three focus groups were held with employers, trade unions and representatives from DPO’s and IG’s. 

A DPO is defined as ‘as an organisation led, directed, and governed by disabled people, with a commitment to the social model of disability and the promotion of human rights for disabled individuals’.

An IG can broadly be defined as ‘an organisation whose purpose is to further the interests of people with a specific impairment, which is not run and governed exclusively or at all, by disabled people. Some IG’s were established to address the perceived problems associated with having a medical condition and use a medical model of disability. Some IG’s do acknowledge the benefits of a social model.     

Focus Group discussion themes were co-designed with the aim of exploring how the existing Disability Confident Employer Scheme could be improved upon and what delivery models might be useful. The research questions were:

• what might each of the following three options look like?
  • to develop a distinct Welsh employer kitemark?
  • to enhance the current scheme with a Welsh element to it?
  • to influence the incoming UK Government to change the UK-wide scheme?

The research team agreed it was important to consider:

• compared to the existing scheme, what are the relative benefits and disbenefits for each?
• what are the potential economic costs and benefits for disabled people, employers and the wider economy?
• what are the challenges and opportunities for implementation?

Focus Group discussions were co-facilitated and were allowed to flow to tap into areas of greatest interest and experience of participants. The data collected was themed and is presented as insights about the current scheme and exploration of the potential for alternative models that are more bespoke to meet the needs of disabled people and organisations in Wales. This includes:

• experiences of the current Disability Confident Employer Scheme and stakeholder views on how to improve the current scheme
• potential obstacles to reforming the current scheme
• the creation of a standalone Welsh employer scheme for Wales or a devolved element within a UK national scheme and potential benefits and challenges of this
• employment problems experienced by disabled people that a scheme would need to address in the future

Research participants brought a wealth of knowledge and experience regarding the scheme and issues disabled people face in employment. However, it should be acknowledged that this is a limited piece of research which did not aim to fully evaluate the current scheme, rather to further explore the options discussed by the DRTF working group. The sample is not fully representative of all types of employers, and it did not include the views of the UK Government department responsible for hosting the current scheme. The methodology section of this report outlines the research methods in further detail, including any methodological limitations.

The disabled people’s employment policy landscape in Wales is complex. Employment legislation is reserved to the UK Government which means Welsh Government levers are largely limited to working in social partnership with employers and trade unions to change cultures and behaviours, amplifying good practice, and using their relationships to promote the social model of disability.                         

Recent changes at a UK and devolved level however could help deliver further change. This includes: 

• an Employment Rights Bill and an anticipated Equality (Race and Disability) Bill and a strengthened relationship with DWP, to work more collaboratively to exploit an increasingly aligned policy perspective
• Welsh Government’s commitment to adopting a co-production approach and using lived experience to inform policy development, notably through the DRTF and the establishment of the DDEU, presents valuable opportunities to strengthen Welsh Government’s disabled people’s employment policy
• the establishment of a permanent team of Disabled People’s Employment Champions improves Welsh Government’s capacity to work strategically with partners and employers to improve the employment prospects of disabled people.

The Welsh Government currently employs a team of five Disabled People’s Employment Champions.

The Champions support delivery of the Welsh Government’s ambition to improve employment outcomes for disabled people as set out in the Welsh Government’s: 

• Programme for Government Commitment to use the new network of Disabled People’s Employment Champions to help close the gap between disabled people and the rest of the working population
• National Milestone for the elimination of the pay gap for gender, disability and ethnicity by 2050
• Employability and Skills Plan
• Fair Work agenda

A role of the Champions is to engage with large employers, employer representative organisations and trade unions, with the aim of promoting the recruitment and retention of disabled people, raising awareness of the social model of disability, promoting the Disability Confident Scheme and improving disabled people’s experience of work and career prospects.

Their work complements that of the Business Wales Disabled People’s Employment Advisers who undertake a similar role focussing on business start-ups and small to medium size enterprises (SMEs). 

With over 250,000 active enterprises in Wales, the Champions focus their time and efforts on ‘one-to-many’ relationships, rather than ‘one-to-one’ relationships with individual employers. This is achieved by working with employer representative bodies, public sector organisations and social partnerships.

Fair work

Equality, diversity and inclusion is integral to Welsh Government’s fair work agenda. The Welsh Government is delivering a range of activity in this area that will have a positive impact over the longer-term on the employment opportunities and outcomes for disabled people and others with protected characteristics. This includes: 

• information, advice and guidance for employers: working in social partnership to drive changes in cultures and behaviours, and to raise awareness and understanding of fair work and the benefits of a diverse workforce
• information, advice and guidance for workers: raising awareness of workplace rights, building on previous campaigns by developing on-line resources that provide advice, guidance and signposting to expert services
• engaging the UK Government on reserved workers’ rights and calling for additional protections and more effective enforcement
• promoting trade union access and membership as a means of protecting the rights of disabled workers
• increasing ambition to improve the reach and impact of the Economic Contract and our Code of Practice on Ethical Employment in Supply Chains

Support for individuals to enter and progress in work, as well as targeted support for disabled people is set out in "Stronger, fairer, greener Wales: a plan for employability and skills”. This includes a range of employability programmes.                         

Over recent months, work has begun to develop an Employability Support Programme that will bring employability programmes (ReAct +, Jobs Growth Wales + and Communities for Work) together. Over the coming months, the Welsh Government will engage with partners on the new Employability Support Programme and its interface with other employability programmes being delivered in Wales. 

Since this work began, the UK Government has indicated its intention to devolve non-Jobcentre Plus employment support funding to the Welsh Government so it can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer for local people, including those with protected characteristics. Welsh Government Officials are currently working with DWP officials to inform the delivery focus of the proposed DWP Trailblazer programme, (focussed on economic inactivity). This positive joint work between officials will ensure the programme embraces innovative approaches when supporting people back to the workplace.

Although UK Government has committed to devolving all non-job centre plus employment support to Wales, officials are in very early discussions about what that could mean for Wales.