Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published 28 July 2021, what progress her Department has made on building a pipeline of talent for the accessibility profession by using existing successful and emerging career development programmes to tackle the skills shortage.

In October 2021, the Home Office welcomed it’s first emerging talent role to our well-established accessibility team. The role is a pilot project to understand the support, training and mentoring required for new entrants into the accessibility profession. Since the publication of the National Disability Strategy, the Department for Education has approved a new Digital Accessibility Specialist apprenticeship route (https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/digital-accessibility-specialist-v1-0).

Home Office Officials are working with other government departments to identify opportunities for adoption of this apprenticeship as the foundation of a talent pipeline for the future. The department is also involved in a cross-industry group discussing the ongoing development of this apprenticeship.