Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of disabled people in each Government Department that left work as a result of a (a) disability and (b) long-term health condition in (i) 2016, (ii) 2017 and (iii) 2018.

Information on the number of people in each government department who left work as a result of a disability or a long-term health condition is not held centrally by Cabinet Office.

The Civil Service is committed to becoming the UK’s most inclusive employer by 2020; which means attracting and retaining the best talent from all diverse backgrounds, including those with a disability.

To achieve this, Sir Philip Rutnam, CS Disability Champion, has set out a clear vision for a disability confident and disability inclusive Civil Service; with a specific priority to develop and retain disabled talent. These include; ensuring our disabled staff have access to effective and timely workplace adjustments and access to mainstream talent development programmes and positive action schemes to enable disabled staff to thrive and realise their full potential. https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2016/03/22/my-priorities-as-civil-service-disability-champion/

The Civil Service publishes annual statistics on the number of disabled employees. These show that the proportion of civil servants who are declared disabled has increased every year since 2010, from 7.6% in 2010 to 11.7% in 2019.