Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking with employers to support disabled people into work.

We know that good work is good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.  We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work.

Through the Disability Confident scheme, the Government supports employers to create more inclusive workplaces and improve opportunities for disabled people to enter, remain and progress in work. Disability Confident reforms announced in January 2026 will introduce clearer standards, improved verification arrangements and greater emphasis on employee voice and lived experience. Test and learn activity has concluded and further details of the strengthened scheme will be announced in due course. This will help employers better understand and respond to the experiences of disabled people in the workplace.

Additionally, the government has developed a digital information service for employers, providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace.

Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent Keep Britain Working Report, published on 5 November 2025, highlighted the scale of the problem of people falling out of work for reasons of ill-health and disability, and the vital role employers can play in addressing this. Since publication, we have been working with Vanguard employers and providers, Disabled People's Organisations and people with lived experience to test and refine approaches to disability inclusion, ensuring the Workplace Health System supports more inclusive workplaces and better outcomes for disabled people and people with health conditions.

This includes developing a model of shared responsibility between employees, businesses, representative groups, and government which recognises that successful work and health outcomes depend on all parties working together to create positive change. After ten months of building and testing with employers, providers, places, unions and disabled people, we are taking forward the development of Britain's first Workplace Health System, bringing together better more inclusive workplaces, better support and better intelligence to improve coordination between employers and disabled people, and therefore improve outcomes, improve lives and drive growth.