Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether attendees of the cross departmental meeting of Disability Champions need to report the number of disabled people employed in each department.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
At the request of the Prime Minister, the first Ministerial Disability Champions were appointed in summer 2020 to drive the development and delivery of the National Disability Strategy (NDS).
Their objectives include championing disabled people and driving the delivery of the NDS in their respective departments. All champions contributed a statement of intent, and a specific range of commitments published in the strategy. They are not required to report on the number of disabled people employed in their department.
In the strategy, the Cabinet Office Disability Unit committed to publishing an annual report in summer 2022, which will detail the progress made against the commitments, including efforts to rebuild the economy and society post pandemic, and to which the Ministerial Disability Champions will have direct input.
The most recent Ministerial Disability Champions meeting was on 16 November 2021 where the ministers discussed the progress of NDS commitment delivery; championing disability policies within departments; engaging with Disability and Access Ambassadors; and Disability Confident. The government does not plan to publish the minutes from champion meetings, but as with previous meetings, will update the Ministerial Disability Champions GOV.UK page with discussion highlights.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the main objectives of the cross departmental meeting of Disability Champions.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
At the request of the Prime Minister, the first Ministerial Disability Champions were appointed in summer 2020 to drive the development and delivery of the National Disability Strategy (NDS).
Their objectives include championing disabled people and driving the delivery of the NDS in their respective departments. All champions contributed a statement of intent, and a specific range of commitments published in the strategy. They are not required to report on the number of disabled people employed in their department.
In the strategy, the Cabinet Office Disability Unit committed to publishing an annual report in summer 2022, which will detail the progress made against the commitments, including efforts to rebuild the economy and society post pandemic, and to which the Ministerial Disability Champions will have direct input.
The most recent Ministerial Disability Champions meeting was on 16 November 2021 where the ministers discussed the progress of NDS commitment delivery; championing disability policies within departments; engaging with Disability and Access Ambassadors; and Disability Confident. The government does not plan to publish the minutes from champion meetings, but as with previous meetings, will update the Ministerial Disability Champions GOV.UK page with discussion highlights.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to publish the minutes of the most recent cross-departmental meeting of Disability Champions.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
At the request of the Prime Minister, the first Ministerial Disability Champions were appointed in summer 2020 to drive the development and delivery of the National Disability Strategy (NDS).
Their objectives include championing disabled people and driving the delivery of the NDS in their respective departments. All champions contributed a statement of intent, and a specific range of commitments published in the strategy. They are not required to report on the number of disabled people employed in their department.
In the strategy, the Cabinet Office Disability Unit committed to publishing an annual report in summer 2022, which will detail the progress made against the commitments, including efforts to rebuild the economy and society post pandemic, and to which the Ministerial Disability Champions will have direct input.
The most recent Ministerial Disability Champions meeting was on 16 November 2021 where the ministers discussed the progress of NDS commitment delivery; championing disability policies within departments; engaging with Disability and Access Ambassadors; and Disability Confident. The government does not plan to publish the minutes from champion meetings, but as with previous meetings, will update the Ministerial Disability Champions GOV.UK page with discussion highlights.
Asked by: Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address discrimination towards deafblind people and those with complex needs in the workplace, and how they will ensure that employers make essential adjustments needed by deafblind people to perform their roles successfully.
Answered by Lord Freud
‘Improving Lives the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’ has been published. This marks the start of a wide ranging exploration into options for long-term reform across different sectors, targeting factors which contribute to the disability employment gap. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including organisations such as Sense, that represents the needs of deafblind people, during a consultation period that will run until 17 February 2017.
The Government wants all disabled people and people with a long term health condition to have the opportunity to work and share in the economic and health benefits that work brings.
Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 requires employers and providers of services to members of the public to make ‘reasonable adjustments’, so that disabled people are not placed at a “substantial disadvantage” compared to non-disabled people.
The Access to Work scheme provides a dedicated service to particular groups, including those with complex needs, going beyond employers’ statutory obligations to make reasonable adjustments.