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 people in the support group for employment and support allowance can access specialist employment advice.

There is no requirement for people in the support group to undertake work-related activity. However, they can volunteer for support or other provision if they wish.

The Health, Work and Disability Green Paper, launched on 31^st October recognises that we need to do more to help people placed in the Support Group who would like to work now or in the future. We are committed to understanding what works for those in the Support Group. We will undertake comprehensive research and develop a large scale trial to test and learn from different approaches of offering employment and health support for those in the Support Group.

We are also consulting to establish if a ‘keep in touch’ discussion would be of benefit for this group, and if so, how and by whom should it be delivered, to ensure it meets the needs of individuals in this group.