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<p>The Department for Work and Pensions is working at a district, regional and national
level with Disability Confident employers, encouraging them to pro-actively attract,
recruit and retain disabled people, offering help and support at every stage of the
journey. The department provides employers with a range of material, videos and toolkits,
to help them to develop best practice.</p><p> </p><p>We are working closely with our
stakeholders, including all main government departments, the Local Government Association,
and Councils. The DWP Business Leaders Group, consisting of corporate influencers,
is also helping to promote the benefits of employing a diverse range of employees,
including disabled people.</p><p> </p><p>Last year, we made a number of improvements
to the scheme, including adding the requirement for Disability Confident Leader employers
to use the Voluntary Reporting Framework (VRF) to publicly report on how they encourage
and support disabled staff. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use
the VRF, we expect that most would choose to combine it with their annual report and
accounts.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2018, we published the results of survey research
commissioned from Ipsos MORI, which explored the effect that signing up to the Disability
Confident scheme had on recruitment and retention attitudes towards disabled people.
Half of all employers interviewed for the study said they had recruited at least one
person with a disability, long-term health or mental health condition as a result
of joining the scheme. Among larger employers, nearly two thirds reported the same.
Eight in ten (80%) of employers interviewed had adopted at least one disability-related
retention practice as a result of joining the scheme.</p><p> </p>
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