Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability employment advisers are trained in the use of British Sign Language.

The information requested is not readily available. Disability Employment Advisers (DEA) do not receive additional training in the use of British Sign Language (BSL). There will be some staff in the DEA role who are BSL proficient, but this information is not collated centrally by the department.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to making its services accessible for all its customers, together with those who may have additional communication needs including hearing loss.

Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) work alongside Jobcentre Work Coaches and Youth Employability Coaches to support claimants, including those with hearing loss. They provide expert knowledge on how to support disabled customers and building the skills and capability of Work Coaches. DEAs can also directly support customers with health conditions and disabilities where this can benefit the customer. Every Work Coach in every Jobcentre has access to a DEA.

Deaf and hard of hearing customers visiting Jobcentres are able to access different support based on how hearing loss affects their communication needs. Jobcentres are equipped and currently provide mainly portable, but also some fixed hearing loops across the network, for those customers with hearing loss.

For those customers who are deaf or hard of hearing and attending a prearranged appointment with DWP, staff have access to a language services contract to pre-book an interpreter to support face to face contact. The interpreter will be skilled in providing non-spoken language support, including BSL.

Following the expansion of the Video Relay Service last year, whereby deaf customers are now able to make an inbound telephone call to DWP via a BSL interpreter using a video connection, DWP is currently exploring how this technology can be adapted to support video remote interpreting which will enable outbound contact. This will increase the flexibility for DWP to conduct face to face and telephony-based contact with deaf and hard of hearing customers.

The Employer and Partnerships role within DWP forms effective networks with a variety of local stakeholders, including organisations and charities that support customers with hearing loss. These relationships are vital to ensure that DWP is able to provide consistent and effective support to its customers.

On a national level, DWP has established a range of networks with its stakeholders to provide a voice for the customer. Stakeholder groups such as the Reasonable Adjustments Forum and the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum regularly meet with a cross section of organisations representing disabilities, including those with hearing loss. The purpose of these forums is to ensure that DWP elicits feedback and insight into how its services are being used by those with additional communication needs and to seek continuous improvement.