The Friendly Times

  We keep saying we want more disabled people in work. So why are we making the support they rely on harder to use? The government is clear about its ambition: more disabled people in employment, fewer people stuck on benefits, and a labour market that makes better use of talent that is currently overlooked. It’s an aim many of us would support without hesitation. But ambition only matters if the systems underneath it actually deliver — particularly for employers who are expected to turn policy into practice. Access to Work sits at the heart of this. It is one of the few mechanisms the government directly controls that enables disabled people to take up work, stay in work and progress in their careers. For employers, it underwrites reasonable adjustments, reduces risk and makes inclusion practical rather than aspirational. Yet recent data and lived experience point in an uncomfortable direction. Fewer people are having Access to Work support approved than a year ago, waiting times ...

  What the Motability Scheme changed — and why the Budget risks turning the clock back My driving life began in a three-wheeled blue “Noddy car”. It had the turning circle of a shopping trolley and the crash protection of a biscuit tin. More than that, it announced  “this driver is disabled”  to the world at full volume. It got me around, but it never let me forget I was different. Then the Motability Scheme arrived — and everything changed. Suddenly, disabled people could drive the same cars as everyone else. Not a special version. Not a compromise. Just… a car. That may sound ordinary, but it was quietly revolutionary. Independence without stigma. Normality delivered without fuss. And let’s clear up one myth straight away: these cars are not free. Disabled people pay for them by assigning their mobility benefit every month. We invest our own money in our ability to live, work and contribute. This isn’t generosity; it’s a practical exchange that recognises the extra cost...

I keep seeing articles about the “untapped talent” of disabled people. The phrase pops up with the reliability of a well-worn sitcom rerun. It’s meant warmly, I know. But after thirty-plus years in this field, I can’t help feeling a familiar mix of frustration and quiet amusement. Because if this really were a new idea, I must have dreamt most of the 1990s. The Numbers Haven’t Moved Much  Here’s the reality. In 2024, just over  half  of working-age disabled people in the UK were in work. For non-disabled people, it was over  four-fifths . The gap sits around  28 percentage points  and has done so, more or less, for decades. If this were a graph stuck to a fridge, someone would tap it and say, “Is it supposed to do anything?” Talent Isn’t the Problem People sometimes ask why progress is so slow. The simplest answer? If talent were the issue, we’d have cracked it when dial-up internet was still a thing. Disabled people aren’t sitting in the dark waiting to be...

  Ever tried using a parcel return point from a wheelchair? I did recently — or rather, I  tried  to. What followed was a lesson in how clever ideas can become barriers when inclusion isn’t part of the plan. At my local Morrisons, there’s a shiny new self-service parcel drop-off point tucked away at the back of the garage forecourt. There’s no dedicated parking for it, so the only option is to stop in the forecourt itself. The service road leading to the supermarket is on a bend, and pulling up there would be far too risky. From the forecourt, there are no dropped kerbs, so you first have to brave a busy service road. Then comes a raised kerb and a stretch of loose grey shale before you even reach the machine. And even if you get that far, the scanner and parcel boxes are mounted so high they’re out of reach. And then there’s the unspoken assumption: that wheelchair users always have someone with them. That we never go anywhere alone. In reality, many of us are perfectly ...

Every so often, another report lands reminding us that disabled people still travel far less than everyone else. The latest research from the  National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT)  and the  Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC)  shows that disabled people make  38% fewer journeys  than non-disabled people — and that figure hasn’t changed in over ten years. You’d think that after decades of work on accessibility, that gap would be closing. But NCAT’s new report,   Invisible Barriers: How Public Attitudes Affect Inclusive Travel , makes it clear that the problem isn’t just about step-free stations or broken lifts. It’s about   people’s attitudes . The invisible barrier we don’t talk about NCAT found that   59% of disabled travellers regularly encounter negative attitudes   — from staff, fellow passengers, or even bystanders. The stories are painful, and sadly familiar. People are disbelieved when they ask for help, m...

In November, I’ll turn 80. It feels a bit like I’m sitting astride the mountain of life, catching my breath and looking back at the path I’ve climbed. The journey has been long, sometimes steep, sometimes surprising, and now I find myself reflecting on what I’ve learned along the way. No Regrets The first thing I’ve realised is that regrets are a waste of time. I don’t mean I’ve always made brilliant choices — far from it. But even when I didn’t get what I wanted, something better usually turned up. Take the job I was sure was made for me. I didn’t get it. At the time, I was devastated. However, the rejection led me into social work, where I remained for over 20 years. More importantly, it’s where I met my wife of nearly fifty years ago. Then came another blow: redundancy. I felt desperate and uncertain — I had a family, a mortgage, and no idea what the future held. Yet what felt like a disaster turned into an opportunity. I set up my own business working on disability issues, work tha...