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Our People

Tell us about what your job involves

I lead the Planning and Oversight Team working on the Health and Disability White Paper, which has recently been published. This is a significant event: the White Paper contains proposals to transform disability benefits and how disabled people access employment opportunities.  

My team makes sure that policy leads have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to meet the milestones set by our ministers, as well as seeking agreement across government, where needed, to move things forward.  

We input to Parliamentary Questions and ministerial briefings so that the department provides consistent messaging and a clear sense of intention of what the White Paper is aiming to achieve. 

I also work with publishers to deliver a full suite of accessible versions of the White Paper. We want to make sure that the people we’re aiming to help can read, listen, or visualise what we’ve worked so hard to bring together. My team is fantastic. All of us are passionate about wanting to make a difference to the lives of our customers. Read the Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) to see how we’re aiming to deliver services for those who so desperately need us.

Dave Race

Disability and Housing Support Strategy Division

What is the best part of your job?

I’m helping to create a greater potential for my son to thrive in the future. He’s called Robson (named after the last gentleman in football) and is autistic, non-verbal and has ADHD. Like others on the autistic spectrum, he is very intelligent.  Robson will likely use a lot of the services that the Health and Disability White Paper sets out to improve. I couldn’t be prouder of the fact that while I currently care and provide for him every day, I am helping to set things in place that will allow him to become more independent as he becomes an adult.  

The White Paper reforms will help him find, stay and succeed in employment. He’ll benefit from a simpler assessment process that he will be able to tackle independently, at a time when I may not be able to provide for or help him.  If I never do any other role in government, I will have achieved something fundamentally positive for my own family. I am forever thankful for being a part of the team that did this. Many people don’t get this opportunity.  

What makes you proud to be a civil servant?

A DWP value that resonates with me is… ‘we care’. If the last few years have taught me anything it’s that those colleagues in pivotal roles care massively about the people we serve and about the teams that deliver the work. Senior leaders I’ve engaged with certainly want to make things better and really care about creating better outcomes.