South Cambs DC face a growing gap in the skills we need to become a truly 21st century business and those available in the market. In the past we have had problems recruiting staff for several reasons.
There is an untapped market of potential employees who are disabled.
According to the Government’s Briefing paper on People with Disabilities in Employment published on 29th June 2018, only 50.75% of people of working age with a disability are employed as opposed to 81.1% of people without a disability. 9.1% of people with a disability are unemployed and 44% are economically inactive. Only a quarter of people with a learning disability, speech impairment or mental health condition are employed.
South Cambs Hall is fully DDA compliant. We have good parking, good access, a terrific working space and a supportive staff. However we will need to address public transport solutions so that people with disability can even better reach us from some parts of South Cambs.
This Council therefore requests the Employment and Staffing Committee to review the Council’s activity to promote equality and diversity amongst its workforce and, in particular, actively seeks ways to make South Cambridgeshire District Council an Employer of Choice for people with disabilities.
Decision:
Council AGREED the following motion:
South Cambs DC face a growing gap in the skills we need to become a truly 21st century business and those available in the market. In the past we have had problems recruiting staff for several reasons.
There is an untapped market of potential employees who are disabled.
According to the Government’s Briefing paper on People with Disabilities in Employment published on 29th June 2018, only 50.75% of people of working age with a disability are employed as opposed to 81.1% of people without a disability. 9.1% of people with a disability are unemployed and 44% are economically inactive. Only a quarter of people with a learning disability, speech impairment or mental health condition are employed.
South Cambs Hall is fully DDA compliant. We have good parking, good access, a terrific working space and a supportive staff. However we will need to address public transport solutions so that people with disability can even better reach us from some parts of South Cambs.
This Council therefore requests the Employment and Staffing Committee to review the Council’s activity to promote equality and diversity amongst its workforce and, in particular, actively seeks ways to make South Cambridgeshire District Council an Employer of Choice for people with disabilities.
Minutes:
Councillor Peter McDonald moved the following motion as set out on the agenda:-
“South Cambs DC face a growing gap in the skills we need to become a truly 21st century business and those available in the market. In the past we have had problems recruiting staff for several reasons.
There is an untapped market of potential employees who are disabled.
According to the Government’s Briefing paper on People with Disabilities in Employment published on 29th June 2018, only 50.75% of people of working age with a disability are employed as opposed to 81.1% of people without a disability. 9.1% of people with a disability are unemployed and 44% are economically inactive. Only a quarter of people with a learning disability, speech impairment or mental health condition are employed.
South Cambs Hall is fully DDA compliant. We have good parking, good access, a terrific working space and a supportive staff. However we will need to address public transport solutions so that people with disability can even better reach us from some parts of South Cambs.
This Council therefore requests the Employment and Staffing Committee to review the Council’s activity to promote equality and diversity amongst its workforce and, in particular, actively seeks ways to make South Cambridgeshire District Council an Employer of Choice for people with disabilities.”
In moving his motion, Councillor McDonald drew attention to Government statistics indicating that only 50.75% of people of working age with a disability were employed as opposed to 81.1% of people without a disability and that 44% of disabled people were economically inactive. He believed that there was a significant untapped market of potential employees who were disabled and that there was an opportunity for the Council to become a 21st century employer by seeking to make the Council an employer of choice for disabled people.
The motion was seconded by Councillor Eileen Wilson.
During discussion:
· Councillor Nick Wright felt that this was not a motion anyone could oppose but queried why it had been submitted to Council rather than the relevant Committee.
· Councillor Sue Ellington asked what percentage of disabled employees was currently employed by the Council and how this compared with the national standard.
Councillor Wilson, speaking as the seconder on the motion, commented that it was shocking that only just over 50% of people with a disability were in employment. She indicated that she had personal experience of living and working with people with disabilities and emphasised that, with reasonable adjustments in the workplace as appropriate, together with support, there was no reason why a person with a disability should not reach their full potential.
Councillor McDonald summed up on the motion. In so doing, he responded to Councillor Ellington’s question noting that approximately 3% of employees at South Cambridgeshire District Council were registered disabled. The Employment and Staffing Committee could set a key performance indicator for the employment of disabled people.
Council, by affirmation
RESOLVED:
South Cambs DC face a growing gap in the skills we need to become a truly 21st century business and those available in the market. In the past we have had problems recruiting staff for several reasons.
There is an untapped market of potential employees who are disabled.
According to the Government’s Briefing paper on People with Disabilities in Employment published on 29th June 2018, only 50.75% of people of working age with a disability are employed as opposed to 81.1% of people without a disability. 9.1% of people with a disability are unemployed and 44% are economically inactive. Only a quarter of people with a learning disability, speech impairment or mental health condition are employed.
South Cambs Hall is fully DDA compliant. We have good parking, good access, a terrific working space and a supportive staff. However we will need to address public transport solutions so that people with disability can even better reach us from some parts of South Cambs.
This Council therefore requests the Employment and Staffing Committee to review the Council’s activity to promote equality and diversity amongst its workforce and, in particular, actively seeks ways to make South Cambridgeshire District Council an Employer of Choice for people with disabilities.