To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many and what proportion of (a) his Department’s and (b) its agencies’ staff were registered disabled in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; (230564)

The information is contained in the following table.

The table sets out information about the numbers of staff who have declared themselves to be disabled. While the Department encourages staff to make a declaration, declaration is voluntary.

We are aware that not all disabled staff do declare that they consider themselves to be disabled, and the true figure may be higher than the figures shown. For example, the 2008 DWP Staff Survey (which is completed anonymously), showed that 13.6 per cent. of respondents considered themselves to have a long standing health condition or disability. According to the latest figures provided, we currently have 5.7 per cent. of our work force declared disabled.

The Department for Work and Pensions was created in July 2001, and figures prior to 2002 are unobtainable. Figures from 2002 to 2005 are based on the proportion of disabled staff as a proportion of all staff in the Department, including those who had not made a declaration about their disability. However, following new guidance from the Cabinet Office, the figures from 2006 to the present date exclude all staff who have not declared their disability status.