Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to support people who have disabilities to stand for election.

It is the Government’s ambition to see more disabled people in public office. The Government has been clear that the responsibility for supporting disabled candidates sits with political parties and that the EnAble Fund was an interim measure to give parties time to put their own support in place.

The government is committed to seeing more people with disabilities standing for local elections and becoming councillors. As part of the DLUHC funded 2022/23 local government sector support programme, delivered by the Local Government Association and launched in April this year, DLUHC supports a scheme which includes:

• a coaching programme for disabled councillors to support them as resilient and confident leaders of their communities;

• a campaign to attract more people with disabilities to stand for council elections and a new ‘Be a Councillor’ guide for disabled candidates who are considering standing for the 2023 elections;

• a bespoke leadership development programme for disabled councillors, which provides councillors with unique networking opportunities and support.