Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 9
9
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New technology, especially assistive technology (AT), has the potential to expand disabled people’s access to...
Recommendation
New technology, especially assistive technology (AT), has the potential to expand disabled people’s access to the labour market. However, take-up and knowledge of AT is still low. DWP should do more to improve knowledge and take-up of assistive technology amongst employers. Our predecessor Committee recommended that the Government should bring together a consortium of AT developers and entrepreneurs to achieve this. The Government did not act on this recommendation at the time, so we reiterate it now. The Government should also work with technology companies and 50 DWP’s preparations for changes in the world of work employers to ensure that future jobs are accessible for disabled people.
Paragraph Reference:
50
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
In July 2021, the Government launched its new National Disability Strategy (NDS), outlining our approach to realising more accessible housing, easier commuting, and better job prospects for millions of disabled people throughout the UK. The Disability Unit (DU) will invest up to £1m in 2021 to 2022 to develop a new Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology, reporting on progress by summer 2022. The first stage of this commitment is to run a procurement campaign to secure a provider to assess the assistive and accessible technology (AT) needs of disabled people in England, to establish where these are being met and where improvements can and should be made and provide findings to the DU by March 2022—the procurement for this has begun. The second phase (which will run laterally and beyond the above) will consider developing and piloting AT loan hubs to investigate provision across public sector silos from Jobcentres to Further Education Colleges. It aims to improve outcomes at an individual level, reduce the currently high abandonment rates for individuals and realise cash savings in a local area. The third phase will use the findings of phases 1 and 2 to develop an AT centre.