THE disability employment gap — the difference in employment rates between disabled and non-disabled people — is consistently higher in Wales, a Senedd committee has found.

The equality and social justice committee’s new report, Anything is Achievable with the Right Support, makes recommendations to the Welsh government on how to address it.

These include requirements for local government to increase the number of disabled people in their workforces.

Committee chair Jenny Rathbone MS, who at the recent Morning Star Wales conference stressed the need for Welsh Labour to get serious about tackling poverty if it is to see off the threat from Reform UK, said: “It’s been over 20 years since the Welsh government adopted the social model of disability.

“We recognise that some impairments mean that not everyone can work, but we need action by teachers, employers and government to address the underlying causes of the disability employment gap.”

“The biggest barrier [to work] is the reasonable adjustments that employers need to give to people,” said Gerraint Jones-Griffiths of Engage to Change, a project aimed at getting people with learning difficulties or autism into work.