Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that a) work coaches and b) disability employment advisors understand the barriers to employment faced by disabled people.
DWP Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEA) undergo comprehensive learning to support customers with additional or complex needs, particularly disabilities, and they continue to build on this in the workplace through accessing point of need learning products.
The learning provides Work Coaches with the knowledge and skills to enable them to:
Learning includes the DWP Fundamental Learning Journey which contains a number of training courses that cover disability awareness:
Work Coaches are also signposted to tools, guidance support and websites to effectively use resources from both internal and external sites. This ensures that they access the most up to date advice and expertise on a particular health condition.
Similarly to the Work Coach, DEAs also undergo a complete learning journey, sharing the same objectives to support them when working with claimants who have disabilities or health conditions. The learning includes facilitated workshops, self-paced open learning, and e-learning. Our DEAs support Work Coaches with expert knowledge on how to support disabled customers, building the skills and capability of Work Coaches, and influencing employer engagement in local communities. They can also provide direct support to customers with a health condition or disability where additional support can benefit the customer.
In 2022, we introduced the Health Adjustments Passport (HAP) across the Jobcentre Plus network, following a period of testing in our Health Model Offices. The Passport is a tool used to capture potential workplace adjustments or in-work support needs of customers, and to identify those potential barriers to employment before the claimant is job-ready. Work Coaches have been trained by DEAs to support customers with health conditions or disabilities to complete the HAP. The Passport aims to enable effective conversations about workplace adjustments at an early stage in the customer's journey into work.