PEMBROKESHIRE County Council has become the first local authority in Wales to achieve the Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Disability Confident Leader accreditation.

The Disability Confident campaign is about creating a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people.

As a Disability Confident Leader, the Council is leading the way to support its staff, the employment of people with disability and the support it provides to other employers.

The Authority’s Chief Executive, Ian Westley, said: “There are around seven million working age people with a disability or long-term health condition in the UK, yet only around one half of them are in work.

“As a Council, we recognise the social justice case that we cannot afford to ignore this huge pool of untapped talent.

“Through a positive and inclusive approach to managing disability, we hope to reap the benefit of increased loyalty and commitment from staff. They also need to feel they have a voice in the organisation to allow their different perspective to be heard.

“As one example of what we’re doing, we’re continuing to promote mental health awareness and support at work.

“Mental health awareness training has been rolled out across our workforce. We want our staff to feel as comfortable talking about mental health as physical health.”

DWP’s senior employer and partnership manager, Jonathan Feild, said: “Many congratulations to Pembrokeshire County Council on becoming the first local authority in Wales to achieve the Disability Confident Leader Accreditation.

“As one of Pembrokeshire’s largest employers, this accreditation sends out a strong message to all employers and businesses across the county – it shows that Pembrokeshire County Council is leading by example and can now ‘champion’ Disability Confident across the county and beyond.”

Pembrokeshire County Council’s journey to Disability Confident Leader began in December 2018 when two Learning Disability Champions, Rachel Bailey and Rhys Eynon – employed by the Authority to promote volunteering and employment for people with a learning disability – gave a presentation at a DWP event attended by over 80 people.

Rachel and Rhys are just two of around 50 people with a disability employed by Pembrokeshire County Council who benefit from its supported employment programme run by Norman Industries and Workways+ and which is supported by DWP’s Access to Work scheme and the Welsh Government’s Integrated Care Fund.

As well as recognising the ongoing support for people with disability offered by the Human Resources and Occupational Health teams, the assessment acknowledges the support provided by Norman Industries, the Workways+ and Experience 4 Industries projects.

This support includes help to apply for jobs, work experience, a paid work opportunity or supported employment. Workways+ Employer Liaison Officers are also working with the Learning Disability Champion for Employment, Rachel Bailey, to develop the skills of local employers in employing people with disability.

Through the assessment process, the County Council has taken a hard look at itself.

It has already made changes to its recruitment practices and as a result, now offers a guaranteed interview to anyone declaring a disability who meets the essential requirements of the person specification of the jobs it advertises.

It will also be sharing good practice across its departments and improving the opportunities for people with disability across the whole Authority.

For more information on how to register for the Disability Confident Scheme, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign or contact Fred Hatton (01646 483431) or Diane Phillips (01437 823204) at Jobcentre Plus in Pembrokeshire.

Caption: Jonathan Field (second from left) presents the accreditation certificate to the County Council’s Director of Social Services and Housing, Jonathan Griffiths with them Rachel Bailey and Karen Davies of Norman Industries.