Most employers have had zero contact with DWP, report shows, in blow to green paper plans

Most employers had no contact with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the previous year, according to new DWP research, highlighting the task facing the government as it tries to boost the number of disabled people in work.

The results of the DWP Employer Survey 2024 show four-fifths of employers (79 per cent) had not been in contact with DWP in the previous 12 months.

Just 11 per cent of employers had received support through the Access to Work (AtW) scheme.

And only 21 per cent of employers were even aware of AtW, a sharp drop compared with 26 per cent in 2022.

The survey results also showed that just one per cent of employers had been in contact with the department about its much-criticised Disability Confident scheme, another of the foundations of DWP’s efforts on disability employment.

Earlier this month, Disability News Service (DNS) reported that AtW was under attack from the government, with the launch of a new cost-cutting drive that insiders fear could destroy the scheme and lead to disabled people being forced to quit their jobs.

These cuts come as Labour ministers continue to insist that their Pathways to Work green paper – and its billions of pounds of cuts to disability benefits – is focused on helping disabled people find work and stay in employment.

DNS reported in February that four work and pensions ministers had failed to sign up to Disability Confident, six months after Labour won power at the 2024 general election.

In November 2016, DWP itself was declared a Disability Confident “leader” – the highest of the scheme’s three levels – days before it was found guilty of grave and systematic violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The new DWP survey results also show that just under three in 10 (29 per cent) employers collect information on whether their employees are disabled or have long-term health conditions.

Only about a quarter of employers (26 per cent) said they currently employ any disabled people, while only 89 per cent of organisations with at least 250 staff say they employ at least one disabled member of staff.

The report shows the results of a survey of about 8,000 employers across Britain.

The research examined employers’ attitudes, behaviour and provisions around staff health, sickness and disability.

But it showed that confidence in recruiting disabled people and people with long-term health conditions was low, with only 35 per cent of employers saying they were confident in doing so.

Asked if the research showed DWP was under-performing when it comes to engaging with employers, that the government has a huge task in persuading employers to increase disability employment, and whether ministers saw the results as a setback for their Pathways to Work plans, a DWP spokesperson said: “We are determined to create a welfare system that supports people into work and out of poverty.

“At the heart of our reforms is a £1 billion scheme to help the long-term sick or disabled find good, secure jobs.

“This is on top of our Get Britain Working white paper, which set out the biggest employment reforms in a generation, to drive up employment and opportunity and grow the economy.”

DWP also said it was consulting on the future of Access to Work.

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