Our manifesto for an equal future

General Election 2024

Disabled people’s voices must be heard in this election.

We are one in four of the UK population. We are a force to be reckoned with and we want our potential to be recognised.

Many disabled people think politicians are out of touch with their lives, or simply don’t care.

Our manifesto for an equal future sets out the things disabled people tell us matter most, and the actions the next government needs to take.

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Scope’s 2024 General Election Manifesto summary

16 million people in the UK are disabled. We want our voices to be heard in this election.

Life costs more for disabled people. Most of us experience negative attitudes. And too many of us are denied the chance to work.

Change is possible. We are asking disabled people, their families, and allies to share our calls for the next government with their local MP or political party.

We’re outlining challenges and barriers that disabled people face in the UK today, and the actions that the next government must take to:

• End the Disability Price Tag
• Close the Disability Employment Gap
• Transform Attitudes

Ending the disability Price Tag

Scope’s Price Tag research shows on average, disabled households need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households. The higher cost of specialist equipment, higher usage of everyday essentials and energy, and an inadequate welfare system make it harder for disabled households to meet the extra cost of disability.

To end the unfair Disability Price Tag, we’re calling on the next government to:

After 1 year

• Establish a discounted energy bills scheme to provide disabled households with affordable tariffs. 
• Complete a thorough review of the extra cost of disability and develop cross-government solutions in partnership with market regulators.  
• Begin working with disabled people to design a fairer, more dignified and supportive approach to disability benefit

After 3 years

• Provide disabled people on a low income with a weekly “Essentials Payment” to ensure that everyone can afford food, energy and essentials. 
• Redesign the Personal Independence Payment, in co-production with disabled people, to ensure it truly captures disability-related extra costs and provides people with appropriate financial support.

Closing the Disability Employment Gap

The disability employment gap (DEG) has stubbornly remained at around 30 percentage points for over a decade. More than a million disabled people want to work, but poor employer attitudes, insufficient employment support programmes, and a lack of flexibility and adjustments at work make it impossible.  

If we were to halve the Disability Employment Gap, we would see a £17 billion increase to the economy each year. 

To permanently close the disability employment gap, we’re calling on the Government to: 

After 1 year

• Formally commit to closing the DEG within a decade. The Government must adopt the DEG as a formal measure of success and provide annual reports on progress. 
• Commit to introduce mandatory disability reporting for organisations with at least 250 employees, including data on: 
  

  • The number of disabled people they employ

  • The number of adjustments offered and satisfaction rates

  • Average earnings for disabled and non – disabled staff

  • The number of disabled employees in each pay bracket  

• Adopt the Supported Employment model of voluntary, tailored, bespoke and localised employment support for disabled people 
• Overhaul the Access to Work scheme so that more disabled people benefit from fast, effective adjustments at work 
• Increase Statutory Sick Pay, in line with the Living Wage. 
• Begin working with disabled people to design a fairer, more dignified and supportive approach to disability benefits. This includes :

  • Removing the threat of work sanctions and conditionality

  • Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment

• Stimulate innovation in solutions to close the disability employment gap by creating a What Works Fund 

After 3 years

• Introduce a right to flexible working from day one of employment 
• Conduct a thorough review of the successes and failures of the Disability Confident scheme, and make an honest assessment of its impact on the DEG.

After 5 years

• Introduce dedicated 'disability support leave' for disabled employees

Transforming negative attitudes

Disabled people still face huge barriers to full inclusion and equality in society. 3 out of 4 disabled people have encountered negative attitudes in the last five years. And our research on attitudes highlights the negative impact of these poor attitudes.  

It is vital that the next government sets out an ambitious strategy for disabled people when it takes office beginning by leading by example. 

To improve attitudes towards disabled people government should:

After 1 year

• Commit to and upgrade the role of Minister for Disabled People. And make sure this role has the power and seniority to work across Government, creating change for Britain’s 16 million disabled people.  
• Commit to providing disability awareness training for all public sector staff, including frontline staff across JobCentre's, healthcare, and transport.  
• Embed accessibility in all government communications, with champions in each Department. 

After 3 years

• Set out a clear and positive vision for disabled people in the UK via a new, ambitious Disability Strategy

After 5 years

• Oversee a measurable decline in the number of disabled people reporting negative attitudes from frontline public sector staff.  
• Oversee a measurable decline in the levels of disabled people reporting negative attitudes from their employer. 

Conclusion

Using our recommendations as well as co-production with disabled people, the next government has a real opportunity to create an equal future for disabled people.

If the next government takes these important and bold steps to tackle disability equality, disabled people will be able to thrive in all areas of life. Disabled people would no longer be burdened with disproportionate extra costs and have equal opportunity to enter and flourish at work.

With disabled people’s lived experience informing the government agenda, we believe an equal future is possible.