Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what funds have been allocated to encourage business and industry to employ disabled people; and what is the total value of these funds.

We recently announced that we are providing £1.3bn over the SR21 period for employment support for disabled people and/or people with health conditions, including to encourage business and industry to employ disabled people. This funds a range of initiatives, for example extending contracted employment support programmes, expanding employment support in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapy services across England, and continued support for the Disability Confident employers scheme.

The programme includes funding for Access to Work, a demand-led, discretionary grant to de-risk the recruitment and retention of disabled people for employers. It provides practical and financial support for the disability related extra costs of working that disabled people may face which are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. The grant can provide up to £62,900 worth of flexible, personalised support per person per year. The 21/22 budget for Access to Work grant expenditure is £151.9m.