Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing an identity scheme for people with hidden disabilities.

The Government has no plans to introduce a new national disability identity card. We are aware that some disabled people are actively against having to carry a card which confirms their impairment. Other people who may meet the criteria for the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability do not identify as disabled, yet may require reasonable adjustments.

The Equality Act requires service providers to make adjustments to their practices, policies and procedures for all people who meet its definition of a disabled person, where reasonable.

There are however a number of optional schemes and cards in the UK that have been created to meet particular needs and which give people the choice to use them if they wish, such as the Hidden Disability Sunflower Scheme which discreetly identifies where additional support may be needed and is gaining widespread recognition, and Nimbus Disability’s Access Card which can help when communicating with a business about the types of support or reasonable adjustments that might be needed to access their services.