Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that any proposals to amend the Access to Work scheme are subject to consultation with disabled people and piloted before implementation.

This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, their representative organisations and people that support them. That is why we brought forward the Green Paper and opened a public consultation. We are now carefully reviewing responses to the Green Paper.

We have recently concluded the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including disabled people’s organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme.

We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives.