To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the initiatives he is progressing in order to increase the number of people with disabilities in employment, including graduates of colleges and universities.

The Department for Communities (DfC) has policy responsibility for employment provision and is leading on the development of a new Disability Employment Strategy for Northern Ireland. My officials have been working collaboratively with DfC colleagues on this to ensure that it aligns with, and complements, the strategic priorities and themes of the DfE Skills Strategy: Skills for a 10x Economy. An interim Skills Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-committee has been established to ensure equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion remain at the top of the education, skills and employability agenda as the Skills Strategy moves from development to implementation.

Some examples of our current provision for those with disabilities who need additional support to be able to access our programmes are detailed below.

My Department’s vocational training programmes play a key role in helping young people, including those with disabilities, develop the skills they need to progress into employment. In addition to providing additional time and funding to help Training Providers support participants with disabilities my Department also funds specialist Disability Support Services to support those who require additional support to aid their participation and progression on the Training for Success, Skills for Life and Work and ApprenticeshipsNI programmes. Support via Disability Support Services is available in the form of: Pre-Entry Training Support prior to the participant entering the Training for Success and Skills for Life and Work programmes; and In-Training Disability Support is available to support participation on all of these programmes.

One of my Department’s key strategic goals is to widen participation in Higher Education for students from those groups which are currently under represented.

Supporting students with a disability to attend university or college to undertake higher education contributes to my Department’s Widening Participation Agenda. In supporting individuals through higher education, my Department provides Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). DSA is a grant to help pay for additional higher education study-related costs a student may have to incur as a direct result of their disability, mental-health condition (such as depression or anxiety) or specific learning difficulty (such as dyslexia or dyspraxia). The allowances can help with the cost of a non-medical helper, items of specialist equipment, travel and other course-related costs.

Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability (NI) Order 2005 Further Education (FE) colleges are required to make reasonable adjustments for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (SLDD), so that they can access provision. The Department assists FE colleges in fulfilling this obligation by providing funding to support SLDD students through the Additional Support Fund (ASF). DfE provides £4.5 million funding to colleges annually to assist in the provision of additional support to enable students to complete a course of study and/or progress to further study, training, employment or to independent living.

The NI European Social Fund Programme in Northern Ireland aims to combat poverty and enhance social inclusion by reducing economic inactivity and increasing the skills base of those currently in work and future potential participants in the workforce. Of the 66 funded projects in Call 2 (2014-2022), 22 were specifically for those with disabilities and of the 67 projects under call 3, there will be 21 for those with disabilities.

In addition, other programmes which are supported by my Department, such as the Skill Up programme, are delivered primarily online, with feedback indicating that this helps address accessibility issues, while officials involved in other programmes, such as Assured Skills programme, regularly consider whether further steps can be taken to address potential barriers to participation.

My Department's Careers Service is available to provide personalise advice to all, regardless of age, employment status or ability, to help people make informed decisions about further learning, training and employment. Contact details for careers advisers are available at NI Direct / Careers.