Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing a jobs strategy for disabled people as part of the Government’s covid-19 recovery strategy.

On 8 July 2020, the Chancellor announced the Plan for Jobs, a package of measures which will help people find work by significantly increasing help offered through Jobcentres and providing individualised advice through the National Careers Service. The Chancellor also announced the Kickstart Scheme, a £2bn fund to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people. People with disabilities are able to access all of the above measures, in addition to the existing disability employment and support offer.

The government’s manifesto committed to reducing the disability employment gap and the government is very aware that people with disabilities face extra barriers in both recruitment and retention.

On recruitment, people with disabilities who have lost their job and require more intensive employment support have access to both the Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support. In addition, the Disability Confident scheme provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop people with disabilities in the workplace.

On retention, the Access to Work programme offers people with disabilities practical in-work support above the level of statutory reasonable adjustments, including a discretionary grant of up to £60,700 per year. The government will continue to look at ways of supporting people with health conditions to stay in work. The government plans to publish a response to the Health is Everyone’s Business consultation by the end of the year. The consultation set out proposals to assist all employers to take early and supportive action to help staff who are managing health conditions in work.