Chamber and committees

The answer to your question is yes and no. We are aware that we are making progress in some areas, but, as the committee has highlighted and your witnesses have raised, there are data gaps. As part of our fair work action plan, we are looking at improving that in the coming years.

The biggest issue that I have come across when discussing the issue with officials over the past few months is the disaggregation of statistics to look at, for example, the breakdown of neurodivergence characteristics within disabilities. Members quite often raise issues in the Parliament about people with autism, for instance, and employment, and it is quite difficult to disaggregate the statistics. No doubt, part of that will be about how the information is collected by the labour force surveys and other surveys. We are committed to looking at that and improving the data. It has been identified as an issue.

It is quite a big question. I will try to keep my answer brief.

The overall target of halving the disability employment gap by 2038 was set in 2016, and we have set interim targets as part of that. We want to achieve an increase in disabled employment to 50 per cent by 2023 and to 60 per cent by 2030. Currently, 49.6 per cent of disabled people are employed, if we look at the 2021 figures. That suggests that we are doing well in the aim to get to the interim target of 50 per cent by 2023. We estimate that we have to improve disability employment by 1.1 percentage points each year and, at the moment, we are achieving 1.2 per cent a year. We are achieving our targets and we have those interim targets in place.

Why we are making progress, but what the remaining challenges are is a huge question. I note, briefly, that we have measures in place to work with employers to ensure, through the workplace equality fund and other means, that we support people to adapt and make it easier to employ disabled people. Hopefully, that is making a difference. There are various partnerships with the Government, disabled people’s organisations and employers working together to break down some of the barriers, and we fund such initiatives, as well. Finally, the employability programmes, particularly fair start Scotland, clearly have a big emphasis on helping disabled people back into work. I think that you said that the committee has visited some organisations, as well.

Hopefully, we are contributing to progress but, to be frank, we do not have all the answers. We do not know exactly why we are making progress, because we do not know what is working best and what is not working. We know that it is all helping, but it is quite difficult to give a precise answer.

I am happy to give a further update to the committee. I will speak to finance colleagues.

Of course. Projects such as the one that you mentioned are extremely important, but I make the point that every project and organisation that comes to us sees itself as a priority and as being very important. It is very difficult to strike the balance.

When I write to the committee following my appearance today, I will be happy to incorporate that.

We have given a commitment to introduce the strategy in this parliamentary session. I think that work on it is imminent. As I said, my ministerial colleagues will give evidence to your colleagues on the Education, Children and Young People Committee on progress and will respond on the Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill.

I have Scottish Government figures, but I do not have a breakdown. I am impressed by the latest Scottish Government figures. I think that I am right in saying that, through the Scottish Government’s recruitment and retention action plan for disabled people, which was introduced a few years ago, we have increased the amount of disabled employees in the Scottish Government from 6.4 per cent in 2013 to 13.3 per cent in 2021. Therefore, the figure more than doubled in eight years.

Teams are set up in the Scottish Government to help to adapt workplaces so that they are accessible in order to help in recruitment of disabled people. A lot of good work is happening in the Scottish Government. I hope that that gives members some reassurance that we are trying to set an example.

I expect that the Scottish Government has such data. I will happily come back to the committee on that. I will find out whether we have that information. I am sure that it must exist at national level.

I would certainly revert to the public social partnerships, which we fund. They bring together the private sector, the public sector, the Government and disabled people’s organisations. I would revert to them to see whether there is a breakdown of their work and the statistics that you are looking for.

I hope that the public sector is an exemplar, and will be disappointed if there is part of the public sector in Scotland that is not accessible to disabled employees. You have taken evidence and I await your report. If the issue is identified as a problem, we will take that very seriously.

On the wider point that was made earlier about disabled people who have qualifications, we are always open to new ideas about how to address that. It is, of course, symptomatic of the wider disability employment gap and how we need to change the culture in Scotland and in our workplaces.

The plans and policies that we have in the Government are signed up to by all the relevant policy areas. The transport question is a wider question that affects disabled people and other parts of the population. As I have said, there are specific forums that include people who have mobility issues, and their views are fed into transport policy. There is collective government: all policies are reflected through all areas of the Government.

I gave you the Scottish Government statistics. I do not have a breakdown of the number of disabled people working for individual Government departments—if it exists, I will send it to the committee—but I thought that the question was about the Scottish Government’s track record and, therefore, I gave an answer that I thought was a good and credible one on that issue, so I think that you are being slightly unfair when you ask whether I have brought a breakdown of every policy section in the Scottish Government. However, if that exists, I will—