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<p>Making progress on the government’s manifesto commitment to halve the disability
employment gap is central to our social reform agenda. We want to build a country
and economy that works for everyone, whether or not they have a long-term health condition
or disability.</p><p> </p><p>We have seen nearly 600,000 more working age disabled
people in employment over the past three years. Over the same time we have seen the
employment rate for disabled people increase by over 5 percentage points, where it
now stands at 50 per cent. But we know that there is much more that needs to be done,
so that everyone who can work is given the right support and opportunities to do so.
We know that halving the disability employment gap is ambitious, and will take time
to achieve.</p><p> </p><p>Improving Lives, the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper
published on 31<sup>st</sup> October 2016 sets out the short-term action we intend
to take to bring about change. It also asked questions on ideas for longer-term reform
over this Parliament and beyond through a formal national consultation, so that our
systems, sectors and social attitudes all work together to help achieve the ambition
of halving the disability employment gap. The consultation closed on 17<sup>th</sup>
February 2017. We are grateful to the many individuals and organizations who have
submitted responses. We will now consider these carefully as we plan next steps on
this important agenda.</p><p> </p>
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