Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps they have taken in their Department to operate the Disability Confident employer scheme for those seeking a lateral transfer; and how many and what proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under that scheme where (a) interviewed and (b) laterally transferred in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

The Department is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) leader, achieved through participating in a range of actions to support staff who have disabilities. This includes programmes to help support career progression, such as ‘Beyond Boundaries’, a cross-Government development programme ‘Power of Choice’, an internal development programme, and actions specific to recruitment, such as guidance to ensure the language in job adverts avoids creating extra barriers and automatic interviews for those who reach the minimum pass mark at sift.

Data on the number of internal candidates who have declared a disability and progressed in a recruitment round is below.