Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what accreditation process he plans will be used for the training received by the work coaches described in his Department's publication entitled, Improving Lives: The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper, Cm 9342; and if he will make a statement.

Our work coach accreditation programme consists of Level 2, 3 and 4 working toward a City and Guilds Certificate in Managing the Quality of Services to Customers.

Accreditation is not about adding to what we are already doing with our induction and learning route-ways, but building upon it to continuously improve. It aligns the Work Coach learning journey with a meaningful accreditation route-way, future proofing our learning and development journeys and making greater, more efficient use of technology to enrich the learning experience.

This City and Guilds externally recognised accreditation provides a strong focus on Customer Service delivery, the Labour Market and Digital from day one, and provides our Work Coach and Work Coach Manager Community with a clear understanding of the expectations we place on them in delivering a professional customer service.

In addition to accreditation, Work coaches will also be better supported by an extra 300 Disability Employment Advisers, who will work alongside them to provide additional professional expertise and local knowledge on health issues, and around 200 new Community Partners with disability expertise and local knowledge.