Debated in Parliament on 18 Sep 2023.
Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong asked the Minister for Manpower with regard to the Open Door Programme and Enabling Employment Credit which provide employment-related support to persons with disabilities (a) whether the Ministry has data on the percentage of successful applications that are granted under each of the schemes in 2022 and 2023 respectively; and (b) whether the Ministry is aware of any improvements to be made to the scheme to ensure better outcomes.
SG Enable works with interested persons with disabilities and employers to apply for relevant grants and services under the Open Door Programme (ODP). With this customised approach, all ODP applications made from January 2022 to August 2023 were successful. The number of persons with disabilities placed into jobs with support from ODP each year has remained stable at around 500 over the last three years from 2020 to 2022.
The Enabling Employment Credit (EEC), on the other hand, is automatically disbursed to eligible employers without the need for application. The number of persons with disabilities supported by EEC increased to about 10,300 in 2022, up from about 9,700 in 2021 when EEC was introduced.
Both the ODP and EEC have been enhanced in recent years. ODP was enhanced in 2020 to strengthen training support through higher course fee subsidies and training allowances while EEC was enhanced in 2023 to strengthen wage support for employment of persons with disabilities, particularly those who have not been working for at least six months prior to being hired.
The average resident employment rate for persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 has increased from 29% in the period 2020-2021, to 31.4% in 2021-2022. As part of our joint efforts under the Enabling Masterplan 2030, we will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Social and Family Development and SG Enable to review the suite of employment support schemes for persons with disabilities to ensure that they remain effective.
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