Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of wheelchair users who are not able to get employment since all buildings which are accessible to the public are not required to have full access for wheelchair users.

No such estimate has been made and nor do we hold data on the number of wheelchair users affected in this way.

We are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to live independent lives. In the Levelling-Up White Paper we announced that the UK Government will provide £1.3bn over the Spending Review 2021 period to support disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. This includes Access to Work: a demand-led, discretionary grant intended to support disabled people to move into and sustain paid employment by providing a contribution to the costs of overcoming workplace barriers. The grant is not means tested and can contribute to the disability related extra costs in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments.

In 2017 the Government set a goal to see a million more disabled people in employment between 2017 and 2027. The latest figures released for Q1 (January to March) 2022 show that between Q1 2017 and Q1 2022 the number of disabled people in employment increased by 1.3m – meaning the goal has been met after five years.