Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to engage with a) disabled people and b) disabled people's organisations during next the phase of reform for the Disability Confident scheme.

The Department is committed to ensuring that the next phase of Disability Confident reform is shaped by the lived experience of disabled people and disabled people’s organisations.

As set out in the Disability Confident Reform Delivery Plan the reformed scheme will embed disabled people’s voices throughout design, testing and evaluation. This includes planned engagement through qualitative interviews, surveys, and employee feedback mechanisms, ensuring that reforms reflect the real experiences of disabled employees and those with long-term health conditions.

We will also work directly with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations as part of our stakeholder engagement work. Their expertise will inform the development and testing of strengthened standards, verification processes and tools, with opportunities to contribute through engagement sessions, workshops and ongoing feedback loops.

Taken together, these measures will ensure that disabled people and the organisations representing them have clear and meaningful opportunities to shape the next phase of Disability Confident reform.