Currently, over 20% of Scotland’s workforce is within the public sector. However, despite occupying such a large percentage, information on the number of disabled people within many public bodies is patchy and incomplete.
This makes it difficult to assess how inclusive and supportive employment of disabled people in the public sector is, but it is fair to conclude that disabled people face various forms of exclusion and discrimination.
Apt undertook research with the goal of creating an evidence-informed baseline of the current number of disabled people employed within Scotland’s public sector.
With the data gathered, we will be creating a database outlining numbers and proportions of disabled people working within the public sector across Scotland. We’ll also be identifying how public bodies collect and report data on the disabled people that they hire.
Additionally, in line with the Apt vision, we will analyse what policies public bodies throughout Scotland have in place to increase the recruitment and retention of staff members who are disabled.
With a focus on substantial, sustainable change, we will second a Change Leader to work between two public sector organisations chosen to be representative of the wider sector. The Change Leader will work part-time in both organisations over a period of 12 months.
In this time, the Change Leader will work closely with the organisations to make significant changes such as a 50% improvement in disabled recruitment and retention, a measurable change in the organisation’s culture and approach to inclusion and, finally, a report that will outline recommendations for sustaining impact, agreed by the CEO.
Apt will establish a network of Scottish public sector organisations, sharing findings, encouraging best practice, and securing strategic commitments to support halving the disability employment gap.