Our response to major youth employment plans

Sarah Brown-Fraser, Head of Communications and Policy, said:

“We welcome today’s announcement outlining a £1billion youth employment drive, but we are concerned it still falls short of giving the right meaningful support to disabled people, who remain significantly underrepresented in employment. To truly recognise the wide diversity needs of millions of disabled people, the Government’s commitments need to place accessibility and inclusion at the centre of its plans.

“The initiative aims to create 200,000 new jobs and apprenticeships for young people. This is supported by measures such as a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers and expanded job guarantees for 18–24 year olds. It also includes new foundation apprenticeships and further reforms intended to boost opportunities for those not earning or learning. While this is welcomed, disabled people continue to face structural and cultural barriers that prevent them from benefitting equally.

“Disabled people are far less likely to be in employment, with the disability employment rate consistently around 53% compared with 82% for non disabled people. This leaves a persistent gap of nearly 30 percentage points (UK labour market statistics, 2025). We signed up to the Disability Employment Charter to add our voice to the changes needed.

“Many disabled people face physical barriers such as inaccessible facilities, limited transport options, and insufficient support. Others encounter employer misconceptions about capability and productivity. This can lead to discriminatory hiring practices and a lack of reasonable adjustments. These are issues these new incentives do not yet fully address.

“Disabled people often report low confidence, fear of negative treatment, and a lack of visible role models in sport and employment. Without targeted interventions, there is a risk that new schemes reinforce existing inequalities rather than remove them.

“As the leading voice for disabled people in sports and activities, we urge the Government to prioritise disabled people within this employment drive. This includes mandatory accessibility standards, funded workplace adjustments, specialist employment support, and partnerships with disabled people’s organisations. At the heart of these improvements, we need to see disabled people influencing the changes that work for the people most impacted.

“Through our Include to Improve programme, delivered in partnership with Sport for Confidence and funded by Sport England, we are already showing how co-production and supportive environments can remove deep rooted barriers to participation. The programme works directly with disabled people and activity providers to redesign approaches so that inclusion is built in from the start. These insights show what is possible when disabled people shape solutions, and they offer practical models the Government and employers can learn from and scale.

“We continue to work with leading organisations across our sector to ensure there are more accessible opportunities in sports employment. Only by addressing these barriers can we ensure disabled people play an active role in reaping the benefits of employment and shaping the future workforce.”