The employment gap between adults with learning disabilities and the wider population in Gloucestershire is at a record high, new figures reveal.

And while UK employment is at its highest ever level, the charity Mencap says employment rates for people with learning disabilities continue to be hampered as they “face many barriers”.

The latest Public Health England data compares the percentage of working age people with learning disabilities who are in paid employment with that for the population as a whole.

In Gloucestershire, 81.6% of the working age population was in employment in 2018-19, while the figure stood at just 3.1% for adults with a learning disability.

That's a gap of 78.5 percentage points – the widest since comparable records began in 2011-12.

The figures cover people aged 18 to 64 with learning disabilities who were known to the council during the period.

The gap in Gloucestershire was wider than that across England – nationally last year, it hit a record 69.7 percentage points.

It was also bigger than the figure for the South West as a whole, which stood at 72.9 percentage points.

Mark Capper, head of development at Mencap, called the national figures “really disappointing”, adding that less than 6% of people with a learning disability known to their council are doing paid work.

He said: “Despite the general population’s employment rate rising over the years, the employment rate for people with a learning disability has remained stubbornly low.

“People with a learning disability can work and want to work, and with the right support they can make really fantastic employees.

“But they face many barriers, often falling at the first hurdle as a result of inaccessible application forms.”

Small and reasonable adjustments in the workplace could help them become committed members of the workforce, Mr Capper added.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “There are 4.4 million disabled people in employment in the UK, the highest since records began, but we know there is more to do.

"Levelling up the playing field for disabled people is a priority for this Government, and that's why later this year we'll launch a national strategy to set out how we can better support them so they have equal access to all spheres of life."

A spokesman for Gloucershire County Council said: "Gloucestershire County Council is committed to supporting people with a learning disability to fulfil their potential and this includes providing services to support them in realising their employment ambitions. 

"We have several employment projects which provide such support and which are actively increasing the number of people with a learning disability in paid employment. 

"GCC’s funded Forwards Employment Service provides help for people with a learning disability to both find and sustain paid work. 

"The data which is produced nationally only takes into account those people with a learning disability who access long term care services provided by Gloucestershire County Council. 

"This data is flawed in that Local Authorities do not report in the same way and will offer different care services to individuals. 

"In addition, Gloucestershire has a low unemployment rate - currently 2.0% compared to 2.9% nationally which means the “gap” reported is not representative of the levels of activity in this area. 

 

"The current locally reported employment rate for people in Gloucestershire who have a learning disability is 25%.  This has figure has increased on a quarterly basis over the past 18 months. 

 

"The national data is based on the following criteria:

"The definition of individuals ‘known to the council’ is restricted to those adults of working age with a primary support reason of learning disability support who received long term support during the year in the settings of residential, nursing and community but excluding prison."