B

Baroness Sherlock (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 28 October 2025

Debate

People with Disabilities: Employment

Contribution

My Lords, if anyone is not paying the legal minimum then they are breaking the law, whatever the circumstances, and should absolutely be taken to task for that. However, my noble friend is making a broader point, which is that there are clear gaps in employment: for female employment, for the disability employment gap and in pay rates for a number of ethnic minorities, although the pattern is more varied there. One challenge in the whole strategy of trying to move to a more inclusive labour market is that it is not about trying to do something for its own sake but about recognising that if we do not use the talents of all our people, businesses are not getting the best people that they want to do the jobs, and we will not get the kind of growth we need or development in companies. One of the reasons we have had such a focus on working with combined mayoral authorities and local authorities is to try to make sure that they have local Get Britain Working plans which reflect their local populations, so that, as they develop them, everybody in the local area has a good chance to get into work. That is our approach.

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