Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps their Department is taking to support the Disability Confident scheme; how many officials in their Department work directly on supporting that scheme; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that work in supporting the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of disabled people in their Department; and what further steps they are taking to support their Department’s recruitment and retention of disabled people.
Answered by John Glen
Cabinet Office successfully accomplished Disability Confident (DC) level 3 leader status in February 2024. We have been Disability Confident in Level 3 for the last 4 years. We continue to work closely with the Business Disability forum that validated our DC and are working through our recommendations in all areas.
Cabinet Office takes a departmental approach to Disability Confidence to embed core areas across the department. Some examples of officials supporting this are the Workplace Adjustments Team and the Recruitment Team. All colleagues involved in the end to end process of recruitment campaigns undertake activities that support the scheme such as Vacancy Managers, HR Business Partners and Civil Service Resourcing colleagues.
The effectiveness of that work in supporting the scheme in both recruitment and retention was postively reflected in the feedback as part of the assessment in the Disability Confident Scheme. The re-accreditation of Disability Confidence Level 3 Leader status demonstrates the effectiveness of all the work we do in the department.
All areas received positive feedback and also some recommendations to support the development of those areas. We will be working through the recommendations from the validator to continue to be a leader in Disability Confident.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, which of his Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations.
The Cabinet Office had 19 commitments set out in Part 3 of the NDS. These commitments, along with their implementation status, are set out in the table below.
We remain fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, the Cabinet Office will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.
Ahead of this, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.
Cabinet Office commitments as set out in the National Disability Strategy Part 3 (2021) | Status of commitment |
Better recognise the exceptional contribution of disabled people to the UK through the honours system. | Partially implemented. |
Launch a new website and application system to transform how disabled people can access public appointments, alongside increased outreach with disability networks. | Partially implemented. |
Develop a new principle that arm’s length bodies offer disabled non-executive directors on their boards the ability to do their duties remotely, if they so wish. | Fully implemented. |
Ensure the exemplar accessibility of government buildings, through the work of the Government Property Agency. | Partially implemented |
Introduce legislation to require returning officers to consider the needs of people with a wide range of disabilities. | Please see the reply of Dehenna Davison MP, on behalf of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on 20 June 2023: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-06-15/189778 |
Progress work to require landlords to make reasonable adjustments to the common parts of leasehold and commonhold homes. | Not implemented. |
Run a campaign to help the public sector make mobile applications accessible, and raise awareness of how people can raise complaints about inaccessible websites. | Fully implemented. |
Consult on workforce reporting on disability for large employers, exploring voluntary and mandated workplace transparency, and publish a set of next steps. | Paused. |
Lead by example, taking further measures to make the Civil Service a brilliant place to work for disabled people, including timely workplace adjustments, support for staff disability networks and continuing to grow our multi-award winning work experience and development programmes. | Fully implemented. |
Lead a multi-year programme to improve the availability, quality, relevance and comparability of government disability data. | Not implemented. |
Leverage government’s procurement spend to drive better outcomes for disabled people. | Fully implemented. |
Review our approach to ensure we are engaging in the best ways and with a sufficiently diverse group of disabled people. | Paused. |
Explore the establishment of a world-leading Centre for Assistive and Accessible Technology. | Paused. |
Expand the Disability and Access Ambassadors programme. | Fully Implemented. |
Assess the assistive and accessible technology needs of disabled people in England. | Fully implemented. |
Through the Central Digital and Data Office, deliver a single government account for users’ personal and business needs, benefitting many disabled people. | Partially implemented. |
Improve the accessibility of government communications. | Partially implemented. |
Work across government to drive further action on crime, accessible products and services and social participation. | Not implemented. |
Through Places for Growth, help create a fully inclusive and diverse workforce for the long term, not the short term, and developing talent opportunities across the Regions and Nations of the UK. | Partially implemented. |