Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve support for people with epilepsy from Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers.

The department recognises that epilepsy is a serious neurological condition, which can greatly affect an individual’s ability to work and live well.

Disability Employment Advisers are trained work coaches , followed by additional role specific learning designed to support their role. This learning enables Disability Employment Advisers to treat each claimant as an individual, understand the impact of different disabilities and health conditions, and provide tailored support to help overcome barriers to employment.

Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist support to help individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Disability Employment Advisers work with the local community to advocate for customers, collaborate with local partners such as employers, voluntary organisations, the NHS and local government services to facilitate support that meets local needs and promote other programmes such as Disability Confident and Work Well.

For those with health conditions and disabled people that would benefit from more intensive support, Jobcentre staff can signpost people to Connect to Work, our local-area led support in England and Wales. This started to go live in April 2025 and we expect it to be live in all areas of England and Wales by early 2026. In Connect to Work, participants are given a dedicated specialist employment support adviser who works alongside them to understand their career goals and help them to address any specific barriers to employment. Participants are supported to have conversations with prospective employers, helping to remove the need to go through complex application processes. The employment adviser works with both the employer and the participant to ensure that the transition into work is smooth and that the workplace is inclusive.

We are building towards a guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for all disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. We are already making progress, and there are now over 1000 Pathways to Work Advisors in Jobcentres across England, Scotland and Wales who are helping disabled people and people with health conditions towards and into work.

And through the new Jobs and Careers Service, the department will enhance support so that customers can access the help they need at the right time.