Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, what plans his Department has published to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce to meet its target of 15.3 per cent by 2030; and what progress has been made towards that target as of 12 January 2022.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to creating the best possible working environment for, and maximising the potential of, all our people. Defence has made commitments to the new Government wide Disability Strategy and have been developing new working models and policies to create a better working environment for Defence people that require assistance. As part of the National Disability Strategy, the MOD committed to publishing a plan to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce and achieve our 15.3% target. We had hoped to have this in place by September 2021, as stated in the Strategy, but this has not proved possible, and we aim to do so as soon as practicable. The most recent available statistics show that, as of 1 April 2021, the Defence civilian disability representation rate was 11.9%.