Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to launch the review into the Disability Confident Scheme.

My officials and I have been working with a wide range of stakeholders—including disabled people, the Devolved Governments, disability organisations, employers, and sector experts—throughout the summer to explore potential reforms to the Disability Confident Scheme.

This includes considering how to support Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) better, strengthen validation processes, enhance promotion of the scheme, and improve transparency and accountability. These reforms aim to make the scheme more robust while building better support for both employers and disabled people in and out of work.

The Government is working towards announcing next steps for improving the scheme later this autumn