Department for Work and Pensions: Disability

Question

In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made five commitments in the NDS:

• Set out proposals to improve the experience of accessing disability benefits;
• Pilot an Access to Work Passport to help disabled people progress through education and move into employment;
• Make available a passport for all young disabled students, including those receiving Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA), when they leave university;
• Encourage employers to hire disabled people and to create inclusive workplaces by reviewing Disability Confident, strengthening the Voluntary Reporting Framework, and disseminating best practice to employers; and
• Expand trials for supported employment services.

Since the NDS was published, DWP has:

• Published the Health and Disability White Paper, which sets out the Government’s plans to reform the welfare system and make it better meet the needs of disabled people in Great Britain. This includes removing the Work Capability Assessment (meaning claimants will now only have to do one health assessment rather than two) and supporting claimants to try work without fear of losing their financial support;
• Delivered a pilot to test the Adjustments Passport in 3 universities. The pilot results were evaluated by the universities, demonstrating the value of the Adjustments Passport, which as a result is expected to be available, across all nations, beginning in September 2023;
• Implemented a Health Adjustments Passport to support disabled jobseekers and is implementing an Armed Forces Service Leavers Adjustments Passport. The DWP is continuing testing of the Adjustments Passport with various groups, including young people on vocational programmes;

• Paused work directly related to the Disability Confident review and strengthening the Voluntary Reporting Framework. The DWP continues to promote the Disability Confident Scheme and encourage sign-up through our regular engagement with the Business Leaders Group, employers of all sizes and other stakeholders; and
• Provided funding, in partnership with DHSC, for Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) supported employment services in 12 areas across 41 local authorities in England, to support people with health conditions to access paid jobs, and then support both the individual and their employer to ensure that the job is sustained.

The Government also announced a wide-reaching package at the Spring Budget to support disabled people, and people with health conditions, to stay in, and return to work. This new investment builds on our existing extensive support to help disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work.

We remain fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, the DWP will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.

Ahead of this, I as the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.