News from Krupesh Hirani: Disabled Londoners benefit from City Hall funding

Londoners with physical and learning disabilities are benefitting from City Hall schemes and funding programmes, particularly the Adult Education Budget and the Young Londoners Fund, Krupesh Hirani, Local Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow, was told by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, at the recent Mayor’s Question Time meeting.

Mr Hirani asked the Mayor about skills and employment opportunities for disabled Londoners, in particular how the Mayor’s skills funds and Academy and Careers Hubs are helping disabled Londoners to access job and training opportunities.

Around half of disabled people are currently in work, compared to 80 percent of non-disabled people. The Autism Employment Gap is much worse, with only 22 percent of autistic people currently in paid work. Whilst work has been done to narrow the Disability Pay Gap as a whole, the Government’s National Disability Strategy, published in 2021, received cross-party criticism and was ruled unlawful in the High Court. The National Access to Work Scheme has also run into difficulties, with the waiting list having more than doubled in the last eight months alone.

In London, the Mayor has made support for disabled Londoners a key pillar of his Skills Roadmap for London. The Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund has supported 120,000 young people, and 21,600 (18 percent) of these young people reported having special educational needs or a disability.

In addition to this, the Mayor’s Academy and Careers Hubs are helping disabled Londoners access good careers opportunities, and an additional £500,000 has been allocated to a project that focuses on improving Careers Education in FE colleges for students with SEND by educating and developing relationships with local small businesses.

Local London Assembly Member, Krupesh Hirani AM, said:

“It’s good to see City Hall investing in disabled Londoners, who bring so much to our communities. Disabled Londoners suffered during the pandemic and it’s right that we are looking at structural inequalities, including in employment, as part of London’s recovery.

“City Hall and the Mayor are making great strides here. But what we need now is the Government to follow London’s example. Its National Disability Strategy was ruled unlawful, due to lack of proper consultation with disabled people. This can’t continue, and disabled people should be at the heart of decisions made on how best to challenge structural inequalities and create opportunities, particularly for disabled Londoners.

“We’re currently facing a significant cost of living crisis, but disabled Londoners are struggling to get into work due to the huge waiting list for the Access to Work Scheme. The Government need to get a grip on this, and enable those who can work into good quality jobs.”