Eilidh Whiteford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2014-06-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to promote the Access to Work scheme to disabled people in Scotland.

Mike Penning

Access to Work is a valued and succesful national programme that makes a real difference to the working lives of disabled people throughout the UK.

The Department for Work and Pensions has actively marketed Access to Work to raise awareness of the programme through a national marketing campaign lasting throughout 2013. This included activity to further strengthen our partnerships with key stakeholders and organisations, developing marketing materials, attending key events and digital marketing. The campaign involved a wide range of communications activities, including press releases, presentations at disability and employer events, articles in disability publications and engagement in direct marketing to large employers. It also included use of digital media, paid advertising links in popular search engines, magazine adverts and awareness training for Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisors.

Access to Work also featued in the launch of the Department’s Disability Confident campaign in July 2013 and at subsequent local events, including Glasgow on 4 March 2014.

The Department for Work and Pensions has worked closely with the Public Health division of the Scottish Government to raise awareness of Access to Work with health professionals. This included sharing information on the NHS Scotland’s Knowledge Network and the Health and Employability Delivery Group.