PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Employment Schemes: Disability (19 March 2018)

We are constantly looking at ways to improve Disability Confident and have introduced a Professional Advisers Group (PAG). The PAG works with officials to evaluate the impact of different aspects of the scheme and suggest amendments and developments where appropriate. For example, we have introduced a Specialist Thematic approach, which has so far delivered two programmes focused on mental health and workplace adjustments. These programmes have been evaluated by the PAG, and suggested improvements will be incorporated into further specialist themed programmes.

The PAG has also considered the impact of the scheme itself, and has recommended a number of changes which have been incorporated and disseminated recently.

We have also appointed a Disability Confident Business Leaders Group (BLG), comprising of senior leaders from significant British businesses across all sectors. The BLG is helping to increase engagement with employers, promoting the business benefits of disability employment, and working with my officials to identify any changes or developments that will improve the effectiveness of the scheme.

We plan to conduct a more formal and robust evaluation of the Disability Confident scheme, and will be discussing this with the PAG, BLG, and other key stakeholders.