Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the National Disability Strategy, published in July 2021, what the timescales are for the (a) creation of Access to Work Passports and (b) expected completion date of the Scheme; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that disabled people are aware of Access to Work Passports and how they can benefit from them.

To support transitions into work and between jobs, Access to Work has been working with stakeholders to develop an Adjustments Passport. Later this year we will run a series of pilots for those transitioning from education into work and service leavers leaving the armed forces. These pilots will enable us to gain an understanding of the passport’s effectiveness in supporting transitions and raising awareness of in-work support.

The Adjustments passport is already being tested with Access to Work customers who take up freelance and contractor opportunities and with 400 young job seekers in the Health Model Offices since May 2021.

Once fully evaluated we will consider making the passport more widely available during 2022. To raise awareness of the pilots we will promote the passport pilots through social media channels and our stakeholder forums.