Welfare Reform Bill

I shall speak to Amendments Nos. 57 and 58, which state that the healthcare professional must assess the extent to which the claimant’s, "““capability for work may be improved by the taking of steps by the Secretary of State in relation to factors that limit his capability to work””." The DWP report 95 showed that 74 per cent of employers do not know about the existence of the access to work scheme. I thought that the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, was going to shoot my fox at that point—but he did not, so I am very grateful. Access to work can help to pay for adaptations to premises and equipment, support workers and travel to work among other things. Is it any wonder that many employers do not want to employ disabled people if they think that they have to bear the burden of any such adaptations to their workplace to accommodate such employees? Knowing about the access to work scheme would address that problem. The way in which the amendments would work is that claimants would be informed during the work-focused health-related assessment about the access to work scheme, which they could then relay to potential employers. How is the Minister’s department planning to make the access to work scheme better known?