Weaver Vale MP, Mike Amesbury, is supporting a charity campaign which seeks to remove the barriers people with disabilities face when trying to find a job.

Mr Amesbury met representatives from Leonard Cheshire Disability in parliament to give his support to their ‘Untapped Talent’ scheme. 

Nearly seven million people of working age in the UK are disabled or have a long-term health condition.

Mr Amesbury said: “With the right support and awareness, people with disabilities can thrive in the workplace and employers, including those here in Weaver Vale, can benefit from their talent and skills. That is why I was pleased to meet with Leonard Cheshire Disability and support their ‘Untapped Talent’ campaign.”

Young disabled people in particular are affected. At the age of 26, disabled people are nearly four times more likely to be unemployed.

Lack of funding, support and promotion of schemes means disabled people struggle to enter and stay in jobs or progress in the workplace. Disabled people still find it difficult to access schemes that pay for basic provisions such as adapted keyboards and British Sign Language.

Neil Heslop, chief executive of the Leonard Cheshire charity, added: “All disabled people who want to work should have the opportunity to do so. The government needs to provide more support to young disabled people to achieve its manifesto pledge of getting one million more disabled people into work. Progress to date has been too slow.”