Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how he monitors inclusivity within the Disability Confident scheme; and whether he is considering (a) guidance and (b) regulation to ensure recruitment assessments do not disadvantage disabled applicants.

Disability Confident is a voluntary scheme that supports employers to recruit, retain and develop disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. DWP does not hold data on employees working in Disability Confident organisations to monitor inclusivity. In a Disability Confident Employers survey - GOV.UK (DWP, 2023) when asked about their approach to recruitment, the vast majority of employers (93%) had disability recruitment practices in place, with the most common activities being making adjustments for disabled people during the recruitment process (84%) and ensuring staff involved in the recruitment process had appropriate disability training (81%).

The scheme provides employers with practical guidance to support inclusive recruitment, including making reasonable adjustments and adapting recruitment and assessment approaches where appropriate to remove barriers for disabled applicants. We set out our plan to reform the scheme - GOV.UK earlier this year, and these reforms, will strengthen this support through clearer expectations, guidance and tools for employers

The Equality Act 2010 already provides statutory protections for disabled job applicants. Employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments where a disabled applicant would otherwise be placed at a substantial disadvantage, and this duty applies to recruitment processes, including assessments and interviews. Disability Confident complements these existing legal responsibilities by providing employers with guidance and support to improve their recruitment practices.