The government has announced plans to overhaul the Disability Confident Scheme following sustained criticism from employers and disability inclusion groups over its impact and consistency.
The voluntary scheme, launched in 2016, was designed to encourage employers to recruit, retain and develop disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. But despite widespread sign-up, questions have persisted over whether it has delivered meaningful improvements in employment outcomes for disabled workers.
The Business Disability Forum, a non-profit membership organisation supporting employers on disability inclusion, said the proposed reforms were both welcome and overdue, after years of calling for tighter standards and clearer evidence of progress.
Why the Scheme Is Being Reformed
The Scheme currently operates across three levels, encouraging employers to make commitments to inclusive practice and, at higher levels, to demonstrate leadership on disability inclusion. In practice, much of the scheme relies on self-assessment, with limited external verification of whether commitments translate into real change.
Critics have argued that this has led to wide variation in how the scheme is applied, with some employers gaining Disability Confident status without demonstrating tangible progress in recruiting or retaining disabled people.
The Forum has repeatedly raised concerns that the scheme’s credibility risks being undermined unless employers are required to show evidence of outcomes, not just intent. Around 68 percent of the organisation’s 600 employer members are signed up to the scheme, giving it a broad view of how it operates in practice.
What the Government Has Signalled
The government has said the reformed scheme will be more robust and evidence based, with greater consistency in how employers are assessed and clearer expectations around demonstrating progress.
Proposed changes are expected to focus on requiring employers to show what action they have taken to remove barriers, improve retention and support disabled employees at work, rather than simply signing up to commitments. More detail on how evidence will be assessed and verified is expected in due course.
The reforms come against a backdrop of long-standing concern about the disability employment gap. Around one in four people in the UK has a disability, yet disabled people remain significantly less likely to be in work than non-disabled people, with limited progress since the scheme’s introduction.
Employer Voices Behind the Push For Change
Diane Lightfoot, chief executive of Business Disability Forum and vice-chair of the Disability Confident Business Group, said the organisation had long supported reform to strengthen the scheme’s impact.
She said that while the concept of Disability Confident was strong, there was “huge variation in how it is applied and how employers are checked and verified”. She welcomed the government’s commitment to require employers to evidence progress in recruiting and retaining disabled people, describing the reforms as “much needed”.
From a wellbeing perspective, inclusion advocates argue that employment schemes must focus on job quality and sustainability, not just entry into work. Disabled employees are more likely to experience job insecurity, workplace stress and a lack of reasonable adjustments when inclusion is poorly embedded.
What the Changes Could Mean for Employers
If implemented as expected, the reforms may require employers to take a more structured approach to disability inclusion. This could include clearer documentation of adjustments, better tracking of recruitment and retention outcomes and more engagement with disabled employees about workplace barriers.
For some organisations, particularly smaller employers, this may involve additional work. But inclusion specialists argue that clearer standards could ultimately reduce uncertainty and help employers understand what good practice looks like.
Embedding disability inclusion is increasingly seen as part of broader wellbeing and people strategy, linked to retention, engagement and organisational culture. Employers that fail to support disabled staff effectively risk higher absence, disengagement and turnover.
The Forum said it would continue working with employers and the government as further detail on the reforms emerges, with the aim of ensuring the scheme becomes an effective tool for improving employment opportunities for disabled people.