Background

Aims of the commission

The Commission for Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning, in celebrating diversity, aimed to investigate and report on the current practices in the employment of disabled people in order to make recommendations that positively influence culture and practice and promote career opportunities for disabled people.

The Commission was an independent body. It will report its findings to the public, the government, training providers, unions and lifelong learning employers and staff. It has produced a final full report, as well as a summary report, which report on its findings and which make recommendations for a variety of agencies, organisations and bodies. Access the reports here.

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Who are disabled staff?

By disabled staff, we used a broad definition to include physical, sensory and cognitive impairments, mental health difficulties, long-term health conditions, learning disabilities and neurodiversity, learning differences or difficulties such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. This included that defined by the Disability Discrimination Act, but also included wider social interpretations of disability. We recognised that the definitions and categories we used were limited and some people may have difficulty identifying with them. However, the intention was to be as inclusive as possible.

We strongly took the view that a positive approach to disability rights should focus not on the individual’s condition or impairment but rather on the ways in which society creates barriers and fails to make allowances and adjustments, excluding them from work and social life.

We are interested to gather evidence from disabled staff at all levels of the organisation (including senior, support and other staff, governors or senate members)

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Lifelong Learning

By Lifelong Learning we included all organisations who provide education and training in the post-compulsory education sector, that is in further and higher education, adult and community learning, sixth form colleges and work based learning.

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What can I do?

We are no longer collecting evidence for the commission. Thanks to all those who have taken the time to respond to the questionnaires, to respond to the interim report consultation or to provide evidence

The Final Report of the Commission was launched at a conference in London on 5th March 2008. 

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Origins of the Commission

The following text provides a brief background to the issues on which the work of the commission was based. Further information about the numbers of disabled staff working in the sector, the issues facing disabled staff and what can be done to improve the situation can be found in out final and summary reports.

In policy terms, disabled staff appear to be largely invisible in the Lifelong Learning sector. There is a belief that they are under-represented in teaching but there is little clear statistical data on this. While some data does exist about the numbers of staff who have disclosed a disability, the validity of this data is questionable.. The public sector Disability Equality Duty applies to both staff and learners and so any solution to questions about disabled teachers and other staff is now part of a legal requirement .NIACE recognises that teachers and other staff with disabilities have not had as much attention as, for example, Black staff. This work of the commission was an attempt to put this right.

It is estimated that 20% of the workforce have a disability. However, trade union records and data from higher and further education institutions find only about 3 per cent of people working in the Lifelong Learning sector have declared a disability. Similarly, the Sector Skills Council Lifelong Learning UK estimates that only 2.3% of staff working in the FE sector in England have voluntarily disclosed a disability.

Without good data and information, it is impossible to know the extent to which disabled people are trained, recruited, retained and promoted within the Lifelong Learning sector. It is believed that many disabled people leave the sector due to their disabilities. This may be avoidable. Without disabled teaching and learning staff strongly visible in the work force we risk,

It is difficult to promote positive encouragement for disabled people to enter the sector, or adequately to encourage and support disabled staff in the existing workforce to maximise their opportunities for career progression. Disclosure and recognition of disabled staff is important, particularly in the Lifelong Learning Sector where staff have the potential to influence the experiences and attitudes of a wide range of adults. In order to develop good practice in employing and retaining disabled staff, it is essential to understand how the sectors are currently managing the disabled workforce.

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The Commission for disabled staff in Lifelong learning

The Commission for Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning first met in March 2007 and ran until January 2008. Publicly available papers and reports from the commission were regularly uploaded on our documents page.

Also see our:

The Commission is supported by: