Disabled staff in the lifelong learning sector are battling to cope with difficult conditions.

Inaccessible surroundings together with poor understanding and support from employers and managers are major problems.

The Commission for Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning has released an interim report also revealing workers often don't feel confident enough to disclose their disabilities and don't receive leave for treatment.

Led by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), the findings are based on evidence from hundreds of disabled workers, human resources staff and managers from the sector.

The information suggests there is a tendency for managers to focus on the ‘problems’ facing individuals, rather than identifying the major institutional barriers which exist.

Managers can be gatekeepers to support services, sometimes preventing access to real support and funding like the Access to Work programme. In some instances, however, the evidence indicates that disabled staff have been treated appropriately.

Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE and a member of the Commission, said: “The evidence to the Commission so far presents challenges to the lifelong learning sector as noteworthy as those thrown up by the Commission on Black Staff in FE. Institutions not only need to up their game to comply fully with the Disability Discrimination Act but also to create a culture in which people with inherited or acquired disabilities can have the same expectations of fulfilling work and career progression that every other member of staff should enjoy.”

A consultation period has started, encouraging opinions and answers from disabled staff, managers and policy makers from across the lifelong learning sector.

Go to www.niace.org.uk for more information.