Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to ensure that disabled people participate in decisions on the award of contracts under the Health Transformation Programme.

A key objective of the Health Transformation Programme is to improve trust and transparency in the assessment process and we are continuing to work closely with external stakeholders to ensure their insights and experiences are incorporated into the development and design of the new health assessment service. We have undertaken significant engagement with disabled people and disabled people’s stakeholder groups and continue to engage through regular workshops and in-depth discussions. We are also undertaking a programme of user research to capture qualitative feedback from the claimants using the service.

While the views and experiences of disabled people are integral to the design of our service, it is essential that the process of procuring external contracts remains independent, to guarantee a fair and open competition.

This year (2021), the Cabinet Office will create a Disability Commissioning Taskforce of disabled people's user-led organisations to improve disability organisations’ access to government contracts.

Cabinet Office will also appoint a Disability Crown Representative to help unlock the innovation and economic benefits of disability inclusion through the government’s commercial activities by March 2022.

By December 2021, the Disability Unit will review the way the UK government engages with disabled people, in discussion with disabled people, disabled people’s organisations and charities.