Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employers are offering guaranteed interviews through the disability confident scheme.

There are currently over 5,550 businesses signed up to the Disability Confident scheme and the numbers are growing each week. In signing up to the scheme they have agreed to a number of commitments, including a commitment that they will encourage applications from disabled people by offering an interview to disabled people who declare they have a disability and meet the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer.

The aim of this commitment is to encourage positive action, encouraging disabled people to apply for jobs and provide an opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people.

In these circumstances the employer, could select the candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than all of those that meet the minimum criteria, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.