Mr Steven Preece Whittaker,

Mr Allan DWP Subject Expert,

sapreece@live.co.uk
Level 2 East, Rockingham House, 123 West Street Sheffield. S1 4ER 24.04.12

[FoI ref No1542]

Dear Mr Preece, Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 05/04/2012. The information you have requested is detailed in Annex 1. The following information can therefore be crossed referenced against each request. Before providing a response to your request please note that the disability symbol two tick scheme was introduced in 1990 and is an initiative administered by Jobcentre Plus, on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions. I am therefore assuming that the information you have asked for is in relation to figures for Jobcentre Plus. 1)This level of information is not recorded by Job Centre Plus for private sector or public sector employers year on year, we can however confirm since the introduction of the initiative, 8387 employers have signed up to the symbol. 2) Employers have the facility to recruit without Jobcentre Plus involvement. This means it is not possible to provide an accurate answer to your question. 3) Employers have the facility to recruit without Jobcentre Plus involvement. This means it is not possible to provide an accurate answer to your question. 4) We do not hold any specific reasons about why the employers have had the symbol withdrawn. However the symbol has been withdrawn from 2,447 employers up until March 31 2011 since the scheme commenced in 1990. The symbol can be removed for a variety of reasons such as employer merger, employer terminated agreement, no contact, non compliance, ceased trading and no reason given. Information collected simply states symbol has been withdrawn.

5) We do not segment employers by private or public sector status in relation to the disability symbol award or removal. 6) It is Jobcentre Plus policy to annually review all employers signed up to the disability symbol to ensure their policies continue to meet the 5 commitments and support any development of the initiative for the benefit of all disabled people. However as the number of employers signed up to the symbol fluctuates year on year and as employers may not always reach a review point we are not able provide a figure of how many disability symbol reviews have been undertaken since the introduction of the scheme in 1990. We only keep records of the last review undertaken and can only provide a figure for the number that are currently signed up to the symbol which is 6589 7) We currently have no plans to alter or replace the TwoTick positive about disabled people scheme/symbol. Where we currently dont collect the information you have requested we estimate that the cost of complying with this request would exceed the appropriate limit of 600. The appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for central Government it is set at 600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the Department is not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing this part of your request further. If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number above. Yours sincerely, Allan Whittaker

Annex 1 FOI 1542 Mr Steven Preece

Questions 1) How many private sector employers have been awarded the Two Tick 'positive about disabled people' symbol year on year since the scheme began? 2) How many disabled people (eligible for disability living allowance or other sickness and disability benefit) have secured both part-time and/or full-time employment with private sector businesses that display the Two Tick disability symbol, year on year since the scheme began. 3) Of those disabled people employed by a private sector employer who have been awarded the Two Tick disability symbol, how many continue to be employed by that same employer. 4) How many private sector employers have had their right to display the Two Tick 'positive about disabled people' symbol revoked as a direct result of failing to live up to the

responsibilities within the scheme, year on year since the scheme began. 5) Could you please answer the above questions in relation to Public Sector disability employment and the Two Tick symbol. 6) How are businesses in the private sector, and also the public sector, monitored to ensure that they continue to live up to their responsibilities within the Two Tick symbol scheme? 7) Are there any plans to alter or replace the Two Tick positive about disabled people scheme/symbol.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing th freedom-of-information-request@dwp.gsi.gov.uk or by writing to DWP, Central FoI Team, 5 Floor The Adelphi, 1-11, John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT. Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioners Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF www.ico.gov.uk