Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's paper, Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, published in November 2017, what steps his Department has taken to (a) establish Community Partners and (b) to increase the number of Disability Employment Advisers by 300.

Community Partners and Disability Employment Advisors have been recruited to achieve the ambition set out in the Department’s paper, Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability.

The Department is committed to recruiting around 200 Community Partners and is actively doing so. There are Community Partners in place in every Jobcentre Plus District. 116 Community Partners are currently in post and 38 others have accepted offers of employment. For all remaining posts recruitment is ongoing.

The role of the Community Partner is to support work coaches with their experience and expertise in a full range of disabilities and health issues, including musculoskeletal conditions. Given that Districts are recruiting Community Partners with musculoskeletal expertise where they require it, the Department has no proposals to offer training to Community Partners on that subject.

Each Jobcentre District has been asked to identify the most appropriate mix of Community Partner roles to address local circumstances. In around 10 Districts this has included musculoskeletal-specific Community Partners.

Disability Employment Advisors (DEAs) have been recruited in every country and region of Great Britain. As at February 2018, there are 470 full time equivalent DEAs with an actual headcount above 500 when taking account of part time and dual role workers.

The DEA role has also changed and in partnership with Community Partners and Work Psychologists they are working to improve the capability of all Work Coaches to better support claimants, including those with disabilities.

Disability Employment Advisers have a tailored learning journey that equips them with the skills and knowledge to support work coaches and other DWP staff when they are working with customers with a wide range of health conditions. This includes researching local healthcare and disabled services organisations and identifying sources of support for claimants with physical health conditions.