Justin Visits Wiltshire Police HQ To Discuss Access To Work

Justin Tomlinson MP for North Swindon and Minister for Disabled People, has visited the headquarters of Wiltshire Police to see the fantastic work that they do in hiring people with disabilities.

Justin met with the local Police and Crime Commissioner, Angus MacPherson, as well as John Flynn, Deputy Head of Contact Management who deals with the control room which is responsible for receiving calls and deploying police officers to incidents. 

During the visit, Justin was shown the control room and given the opportunity to meet with employees with a disability who had come through Pluss, the social enterprise which supports thousands of disabled people into work. The employees have each been supported by the police, and the Government's "Access to Work" programme which offers grants to pay for practical support to help employers accommodate somebody with a disability. 

Additionally, Justin met control room staff who had benefited from "Access to Work" funding which had provided specialist equipment; from hearing technology to assist those with a hearing impairment to glasses for those with dyslexia and dyspraxia.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: "As the Minister for Disabled People, I am dedicated to halving the disability employment gap. So far, lots has been achieved; after two years of the Disability Confident campaign, 351,000 more disabled people have found work and there are now almost 3.25m disabled people in employment across the UK. But there is still a way to go and I am incredibly proud of the work of local organisations like Wiltshire Police, who are leading the way in investing in disabled people, and I am very glad that the extremely valuable and dedicated staff are proving to be more than worth it."