Oral Answers to Questions

Andrew Bridgen Excerpts

Monday 5th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kit Malthouse]

I would advise the hon. Lady to be slightly careful about the statistics she is using. As we heard earlier, there are some particular problems, but in that report in particular there were enormous caveats saying that the measures were not accurate and the numbers not necessarily reliable, particularly on a constituency basis. The Government are committed to a strategy to tackle poverty that involves work, and since 2010 we have 954,000 fewer households in unemployment and moved into work. That is the best thing we can do for their futures.

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

14. What progress her Department has made on the implementation of the disability confident scheme.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

20. What progress her Department has made on the implementation of the disability confident scheme.

[Mr Speaker]

It is always useful to have a little bit of additional information, and we are deeply obliged to the Minister.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Last year, I attended a disability confident workshop in my constituency, where unemployment now stands at an all-time low of 1%. Also present were representatives of the DWP and the local council, as well as local employers, many of whom signed up to the scheme immediately. Will my hon. Friend give further feedback on the national roll-out of a programme that encourages employers to take advantage of keen, loyal staff who are disabled?

[Sarah Newton]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his local support for the disability confident scheme. I urge all Members to become involved in these wonderful events, where we see hundreds of people signing up to the scheme. It is important for us to continue to build on the constructive and positive feedback that we receive from employers by giving them practical support, so that they can employ more disabled people.