Asked by: Lord Rea (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will commit to working with charities, such as Sense, to tailor employment support for disabled people to maximise their chances of successfully joining the labour market.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is committed to continuing to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and partners, all of whom have an important part to play in making the transformative changes required to support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to get into and stay in work.
For example, with the publication of the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper in October last year, the Government launched a three-month national consultation. During this time we engaged with a wide range of individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions, as well as charities with an interest, including Sense, in order to hear their views on the actions that need to be taken to transform the prospects of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
We organised a series of face-to-face consultation events, hosted by partners from disability charities and employers, to collectively explore the green paper’s themes and questions. These were designed in close collaboration with a range of organisations, including Sense.
The consultation closed on 17th February 2017 and we are now carefully considering all the submissions we received as we develop our policy options and set out our next steps.
Asked by: Lord Rea (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the understanding of Jobcentre Plus staff and work coaches of the capabilities and support needs of disabled people who (1) are deafblind, and (2) have complex needs.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Department for Work and Pensions has a network of Disability Employment Advisers, who are experienced in helping deliver services to customers with all disabilities and health conditions. The role of the Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) is to share their expertise, provide support to enhance Work Coach capability in advising disabled people to help them find and retain employment.
Through up-skilling and support from the DEA, Work Coaches are equipped to deliver improved service to all our customers, including those who are deaf, blind or who have complex needs. Learning is available for all customer-facing staff on a wide range of areas, some of which specifically covers what to consider when supporting people with visual and hearing impairments and complex needs.
Community Partners are also being introduced in to Jobcentres to provide additional advice and support to Work Coaches in all areas of disability and the impact that this can have on a person’s ability to finding or keep a job.
In addition, all DWP staff have recently been made aware of a new product - the Disability Passport. This can be completed by the customer and presented to staff at the Jobcentre. The content can be used to support communications between the Work Coach and the customer, ensuring any appropriate reasonable adjustments are put in place to support the individual.
Further information is available to all Jobcentre staff through the District Provision Tool, which will highlight any local organisations who provide support, help and advice to customers with disabilities and health conditions.
Asked by: Lord Rea (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to advise drivers of the risks involved in driving after drinking alcohol.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government advise drivers of the risks involved in driving after drinking alcohol in a number of ways.
The Department for Transport’s THINK! drink drive campaign raises awareness of the risks and consequences of drink driving. The campaign aims to reinforce the social unacceptability of drink driving and achieve positive behaviour change amongst drivers.
In December 2015, THINK! ran a £2.9 million drink drive campaign. This campaign targeted males aged 17-34, who are disproportionately represented in drink drive killed and seriously injured (KSI) casualty statistics. We advertised this campaign on TV, online video and radio, and supported this with wider PR and social media activity.
In addition we work with partners including Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Johnnie Walker to provide incentives to drivers (such as buy one get one free soft drinks) to avoid drink driving.
THINK! also provide materials to road safety professionals to run campaigns and provide information on the risks of drink driving to drivers locally.
The driving theory test addresses the subject of drink driving and the topic is covered extensively in driving learning materials.
The Government also works with organisations to provide Drink Drive Rehabilitation Schemes (DDRS) for first time offenders. The courses aim to allow reflection of behaviour and achieve behaviour change.
Asked by: Lord Rea (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent studies of driver impairment after drinking alcohol, and whether those studies support the current alcohol limit for drivers.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Sir Peter North’s 2010 Review of drink and drug driving made an assessment of various studies. The Coalition Government responded in March 2011 by setting out its position on maintaining the current limit. This Government agrees with that assessment and we do not believe any further studies have provided sufficient evidence to change that position. There are therefore no plans to change the current laws.
Asked by: Lord Rea (Labour - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk of a driver's involvement in a collision involving injuries or death when they have a blood alcohol concentration of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or more; and how that assessment of risk compares with that made when the alcohol limit for drivers was set in 1967.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Sir Peter North’s 2010 Review of drink and drug driving made an assessment of various studies. The Coalition Government responded in March 2011 by setting out its position on maintaining the current limit. This Government agrees with that assessment and we do not believe any further studies have provided sufficient evidence to change that position. There are therefore no plans to change the current laws.