Employers are turning up the pressure on recruitment services providers on their preferred supplier lists (PSLs) to remove barriers to hiring disabled people.

Eighty-four such providers are working toward ‘Proud to Be ClearAssured’ status under the ‘ClearAssured’ programme, Recruiter has learned. That number is among 473 providers who are currently preferred suppliers to employers who have embedded ClearAssured within their procurement policies, according to a spokesperson for the Clear Company, which developed ClearKit and ClearAssured with the Department for Work and Pension.

All 473 have been “written to and asked to support their clients by adopting the support framework”.

An increase in take-up by recruiters was expected in the coming months, the spokesperson added, “as more employers reach the re-negotiation of PSLs and release new tenders to supply”.