To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps their Department is taking to support the Disability Confident scheme; how many officials in their Department work directly on supporting that scheme; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that work in supporting the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of disabled people in their Department; and what further steps they are taking to support their Department’s recruitment and retention of disabled people.

DCMS has been a member of the Disability Confident scheme since 2017 and had its accreditation as a Disability Confident Leader renewed in April 2024. Activity to support our membership of the scheme, and disabled colleagues more generally, is mainstreamed into the work of the People and Workplace team including health & safety, recruitment, HR policy, inclusion and career progression.

During the time that DCMS has been part of the scheme the proportion of disabled colleagues has increased from 8% in 2021 to 12.2% in 2023 (2024 data not yet published). DCMS won a Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative award for Creating Disability Confident Recruiters in 2023 and analysis of our recruitment data for 2023/24 shows that a higher proportion of disabled candidates were successful at the sift stage compared to the proportion that applied. Analysis of our retention data shows no difference between retention rates for staff with a declared disability and those without. To maximise retention we provide workplace adjustments, access to supportive staff networks, an employee assistance programme and targeted development for people with declared disabilities to ensure they can thrive in their career at DCMS.

Further steps we are taking include:

• Operating fortnightly application and interview advice workshops to support candidates.

• Increased promotion of reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process and education of recruitment panels on how to support reasonable adjustments.

• Developing an inclusive recruitment workshop for recruitment panels.

• Launching a sponsorship programme for people with disabilities.