Royal British Legion Industries Secures Government Disability Employment Support Contract

Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) has secured a national, multi-million pound government contract to deliver a scheme which will support people with disabilities in the workplace across the whole of England, Scotland and Wales...

Aylesford-based RBLI will deliver the Department for Work and Pensions’ £6 million Access to Work programme under which they will provide specialised assessments for people with physical disabilities to help them sustain their employment. The charity will manage a supply chain of partners in order to extend its current Access to Work delivery from across the south of England to the national scale.

RBLI has been delivering Access to Work across Southern England, London and the Home Counties for five years, helping almost 30,000 disabled people to continue working. The charity plans to introduced technology and streamline the delivery process to enhance the service, including the introduction of new monitoring systems which will enable customers to track the progress of their appointments and reports.

Minister of State for Disabled People Penny Mordaunt MP, who toured RBLI’s Aylesford village in December to witness first-hand the charity’s services, said cooperating with RBLI will only go to help disabled people sustain employment.

She added: “Almost 300,000 disabled people have secured work in the last year alone, but it is vital that those individuals can sustain their employment. For this to happen we must work to create equal opportunities in the workplace, giving everybody the best possible chance to succeed. RBLI and the Access to Work programme can help lead this change.”

Director of RBLI Employment Steve Woodward, who leads an experienced team of work-place assessors comprising a range of health professionals, said the new contract offers a real opportunity to help disabled people in the workplace and to position RBLI, as a national provider, at the forefront of specialist disability support services.

He added: “The in-depth assessments provide practical guidance to both employees and their employers to help them overcome work-related needs as a result of their health condition or disability. This not only maximises working potential and productivity, but also supports those who may otherwise find it difficult to sustain employment, to progress their careers in what can often be a very competitive environment."