Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions her Department has had with disabled people’s organisations in Wales on the proposed reforms to disability benefits.

As part of our commitment to hear from members of the public directly, including disabled people and their representatives, we have now held a number of virtual and in person public consultation events, as per the advertised schedule on GOV.UK.

Unfortunately, the Cardiff in person event was postponed from 3 June to 23 June, due to the venue cancelling last minute. We have worked with the Welsh Government to rearrange this event and have reached out to all registered participants directly, including registered members of the public and registered representatives from Welsh charities and other organisations, to rebook their place on a re-scheduled Cardiff event, also offering a priority space on other virtual events. A Wales-only virtual consultation event has now also been arranged and scheduled for 26 June.

Throughout the consultation we are committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of everything we do. We encourage members of the public, including disabled people’s organisations in Wales, to continue to respond to the consultation online, in writing and via email until the deadline on 30 June.

In the meantime, DWP Ministers continue to engage with individuals and groups in Wales. On 22 April, the Minister for Employment visited Denbighshire in North Wales to announce the launch of the Inactivity Trailblazer, as part of wider efforts to tackle inactivity - with funding from the £125m (in for 2025/26) announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper being designated to this area. The Minister for Employment also visited Mold Jobcentre during this visit to Wales.