Crucial gains for disability rights, secured by the business community, in danger post-Brexit due to a lack of planning and preparation.
According to a survey of 1611 people (including 140 business-owners) run by Business Disability Forum with YouGov in January 2018, high proportions of people believe there will no impact on disability employment and three-quarters of business-owners that there would be no effect on their ability to cater for the needs of disabled people.
- 39% of people believe there will be no change in disability laws post-Brexit
- 38% believe there will be no impact on employment rates of disabled people
- 47% believe Brexit will have no effect on the number of opportunities for disabled people
- 75% of business-owners believe Brexit will make no difference to the way they hire workers post-Brexit
- 71% of business-owners believe Brexit will have no effect on their ability to accommodate disabled employees and customers
- 57% of business-owners didn’t foresee a fall in profits due to Brexit
Diane Lightfoot, Chief Executive Officer at Business Disability Forum, warned:
“Numerous economic forecasts point to a considerable impact on the UK during the transition out of EU Membership. Any rise in unemployment is likely to hit disabled people harder than it will the general population and risks growing the already huge disability employment gap. Likewise, a squeeze on budgets could slow progress in securing accessibility in our public places, transportation networks, and businesses.
Business Disability Forum is urging businesses to prepare for changes to the economic landscape after Brexit so that they are ready not only to mitigate risks but also to seize opportunities.”