Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to co-produce reforms to the welfare system with (a) disabled people and (b) their carers.

This government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions, in addition to representative organisations that support them. That is why we opened a public consultation that ran until 30 June 2025, for a full 12 weeks after a full suite of accessible versions were published on 7 April.

The consultation welcomed all views, especially those of disabled people, as well as carers, who provide essential support for people with long-term health conditions and disabilities. We held a programme of in-person and virtual consultation events across the country, to hear from people directly.

We continue to facilitate other ways to meaningfully involve disabled people and their perspectives in our reforms, including through collaboration committees, the PIP assessment review and the Disability Advisory Panel.

We are setting up Collaboration Committees announced in the Green Paper, which will help to further develop our welfare reforms. These will involve bringing together groups of disabled people and other experts for specific work areas to collaborate and provide discussion, challenge, and recommendations.

Throughout the PIP assessment review, we are working closely with disabled people and organisations that support them to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment, and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.

The Disability Advisory Panel, which we announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, will be a strategic advisory panel consisting of disabled people and individuals with long-term health conditions.

I also continue to regularly meet with stakeholders, including disabled people and their representatives, to discuss our reforms and listen to their views.