Month: February 2018

UK Minister for Africa Harriett Baldwin arrived in Harare on 1 February. This is the second UK Ministerial visit to Zimbabwe since President Mnangagwa was sworn in in November 2017 and Minister Baldwin’s first visit since her appointment.

Minister Baldwin wants to learn more about Zimbabwe and better understand the context and the challenges and opportunities it is facing as it emerges from 37 years of rule by former president Robert Mugabe. The Minister will hold meetings with business representatives, politicians, human rights groups, NGOs and other members of civil society.

She will also see some of the important development work supported by the UK, including visiting a school for children with disabilities. She will see how the UK is increasing its work on reaching the most marginalised children with education, including those with disabilities, in the run up to the UK-hosted Disability Summit.

Minister Baldwin said:

The past few months have seen momentous change in Zimbabwe and it is a privilege to visit at such a pivotal time.

I am looking forward to meeting a wide range of Zimbabweans and hearing from them about the huge potential their country holds and the challenges that must be faced ahead of elections later this year.

The UK has a longstanding relationship with Zimbabwe and we are committed to working with the government of Zimbabwe for a bright, prosperous and hopeful future for all Zimbabweans.

Notes for editors

Minister Harriett Baldwin is the UK’s Minister for Africa for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.

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The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Sarah Newton, is encouraging more retailers to realise the benefits of employing disabled people as the government launches a new campaign to get retailers to sign up to its trail-blazing Disability Confident scheme.

According to the latest official statistics, around 123,000 vacancies exist in the retail and wholesale sector.

With the government’s ambition to see a million more disabled people in work by 2027, the retail and wholesale sector offers huge potential for disabled people.

Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Sarah Newton, said:

Disabled people can bring a wealth of talent and different perspectives to an organisation, and I want to encourage more retailers to make sure they’re not missing out on this huge untapped pool of talent.

Becoming Disability Confident sends a clear message to both colleagues and customers that retailers take inclusion seriously and value diversity.

We’ve made progress, but I want more retailers to sign up to improve equality of opportunity in this thriving sector and give more disabled people the chance of a fulfilling career.

The retail and wholesale sector is one of the largest in the UK, employing over 5 million people.

The spending power of the 11 million disabled people in the UK and their households – ‘the purple pound’ – is almost £250 billion.

The campaign will be spear-headed by retail sector leaders, including:

• the British Retail Consortium
• Sainsbury’s
• John Lewis
• Marks and Spencer
• Post Office

Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium said:

The retail industry wants to be a diversity and inclusion leader in order to harness the talents of the whole labour market. Disability Confident is an incredibly useful scheme that provides practical support to enable retailers to recruit and retain colleagues with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident employer ourselves, along with some of our members, we look forward to working with the government to drive awareness of the scheme and increase the number of Disability Confident employers from across the retail industry.

Employers like Sainsbury’s are helping to lead the way, acting as a champion for the Disability Confident scheme within the retail industry.

Tim Fallowfield, Sainsbury’s Corporate Services Director, said:

As one of the UK’s leading retailers, we are committed to knowing our customers better than anyone else and a vital part of being able to achieve this is by having a truly diverse colleague base, reflective of the UK population.

Through our involvement in the Disability Confident Business Leader’s Group, we’re able to share our experiences and advice with other retailers with the aim to encourage them to have confidence in employing people with a disability, providing these colleagues with the opportunity to realise their potential.

We are very proud to have achieved the status of Disability Confident Leader, which recognises our hard work in this area, and hope to see a growing number of retailers sign up to the scheme.

About Disability Confident

The Disability Confident scheme, launched in November 2016, provides employers with the skills, examples and confidence they need to recruit, retain and develop disabled employees.

The scheme was developed with employers, disability charities, and disabled people.

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Since its introduction in April 2013, 170,000 households have had their Housing Benefit capped. Of these, 107,000 are no longer capped, with 45,000 households having moved into work.

The latest Office for National Statistics employment statistics also show that the employment rate is at a joint record high of 75.3%, with a record 32.2 million people in work.

There are now a record 810,000 job vacancies at any one time, a rise of 17,000 since last quarter and 60,000 a year ago. There are 340,000 more job vacancies than in 2010.

Work and Pensions Secretary of State Esther McVey said:

Our priority is to have a fair welfare system that promotes work, while caring for those who cannot – and that is why we brought in the benefit cap.

I’ve seen for myself how long-term unemployment can blight families for generations. Behind these figures are real people who have moved into jobs and are improving their lives for themselves and their children.

The benefit cap incentivises work, including part-time work, as anyone eligible for Working Tax Credit (or the equivalent under Universal Credit) is exempt.

Households where someone receives Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, or the support component of Employment and Support Allowance and those claiming Carer’s Allowance or Guardian’s Allowance are also exempt from the cap.

More information

The figures above relate to the number of households who have had their Housing Benefit capped.

The benefit cap statistics released on 1 February 2018 also include – for the first time – a limited set of experimental statistics on the number of households who have had their Universal Credit capped.

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