Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what evaluation, if any, they are undertaking into the Disability Confident scheme, including how the scheme is viewed by disabled people.

The Department for Work and Pensions commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct research with Disability Confident employers to understand the effect that signing up to the Disability Confident scheme has had on their attitudes and practices with regards to disabled people. We published the results of this research on 13 November 2018. The survey suggested the scheme has had a significant impact on disability employment practices, with half of those employers surveyed saying it had led to them taking on at least one disabled member of staff.

The Disability Confident Business Leaders Group is constantly reviewing the scheme to ensure it remains effective in helping employers recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We also receive regular representations from the Disability Charities Consortium and other disabled people’s organisations. These reviews and representations have led to recently announced improvements, including requiring Disability Confident Leader (Level 3) employers to use the Voluntary Reporting Framework to publicly report on their disability employment.