Over 25,000 young disabled people are benefitting from Government schemes to get them into work, according to figures released today.

As part of the Government’s Get Britain Working initiative, which is made up for a number of schemes, disabled youngsters have been helped to gain skills, find employment and start up their own businesses.

The initiative was introduced in 2011 to try and close the gap between the number of disabled and non-disabled people in employment. The number of disabled people has increased from 44 per cent in 2011 to almost 50 per cent in 2012.

As it stands, over 14,000 youngsters have gained skills through the Work Experience scheme and almost 3,000 have been able to set up their own businesses with the New Enterprise Allowance.

‘Young disabled people want the same career choices as everybody else and in every sector – from hairdressing to engineering and everything in between,’ says Esther McVey, Minister for Disabled People.

‘With this extra help, thousands more young disabled people are getting the chance to start their own business or get their first foothold in the jobs market.

‘Young disabled people have told me that they can’t get a job with experience and they can’t get experience without a job. That is why our Work Experience scheme is particularly valuable as it as it gives them a chance to show employers what they can do.’