The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, The Right Hon Damian Green MP, has congratulated Kevin Hollinrake MP in the House of Commons for arranging a roundtable discussion for people with learning disabilities.
The aim of the meeting, on October 31st in Portcullis House, is to bring together employer organisations, charities, parents and youngsters to discuss the barriers preventing people with learning difficulties from entering the workforce and how to remove them. The Government is committed to halving the gap between the employed rates of disabled people and non-disabled people, which would mean finding jobs for more than one million people.
On Monday 17th October in the Chamber Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, asked The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions ,“What steps his government is taking to help disabled people to access government support?” The MP for Ashford, replied,
“It is right that we continually review the way support is offered to and accessed by disabled people. That is why I was pleased to announce an end to stressful and bureaucratic employment and support allowance reassessments for people with the most severe lifetime conditions. We are also transforming the way disabled people access support through our new digital Access to Work platform and providing help to budding disabled entrepreneurs to set up their own business.”
Mr. Hollinrake then went on to mention the forthcoming event he had organised. In response Damian Green said,
"I congratulate my hon. Friend on the round table. He is right that there are too many barriers to work for disabled people, and this Government are determined to do everything possible to break down those barriers."