Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Conclusion 22
Second Report - Disability employment gap
Published 30 Jul 2021
Paragraph 102
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Disability employment gap All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Support from Access to Work is only available for disabled people once they have been offered a job. This means that disabled people who are looking for work face uncertainty about whether they will receive the support they need, should they find a job, and that if they do, there is a period of waiting to find out what support they will receive. We heard that this delay and uncertainty can discourage employers Disability employment gap 75 from hiring disabled candidates.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Second Report - Disability employment gap (HC 189), paragraph 102, 30 July 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 November 2021 (deadline 30 September 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it shares the Committee's aim and is progressing its reforms, but keeps its existing goal of one million more disabled people in work by 2027 rather than adopting the Committee's proposed targets.
- On targets, it says it has "goals" rather than targets, because external factors affect disability employment, and that a 1.2 million goal is "very unlikely to halve the gap".
- On workforce reporting by large employers, it points to a Cabinet Office consultation, exploring "both voluntary and mandated workplace transparency", as "the right next step".
- On Disability Confident, it will review levels 2 and 3 and "consider" how to measure the scheme's impact and success, and says the review will provide an opportunity to seek views on external assessment.
- On the Work Capability Assessment, it says detailed proposals will be set out in a White Paper in 2022 following analysis of Green Paper responses.