Deirdre Costigan

The Department for Business has not made an assessment of the merits of creating a new employment right for Disability Leave.

The Government has set out its immediate priorities for reforming employment law in the Plan to Make Work Pay. The Plan includes a number of measures which will help disabled workers to enter, remain and progress in work - including making flexible working the default and introducing a right to switch off.

As outlined in the Plan to Make Work Pay, we will end exploitative zero hours contracts by giving workers the right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work. We will also introduce a new right to reasonable notice of shift patterns and a right to reasonable notice of changes to shifts, with compensation for shifts cancelled or curtailed at short notice.

These measures will end one-sided flexibility, ensuring all jobs provide workers with a baseline level of security and predictability.

Heat batteries are one of the most promising alternative electric heating technologies, however, they are less efficient than heat pumps and will therefore use more energy to meet the same heating demand.

We expect most properties will ultimately switch to heat pumps as these are a proven technology and have been installed in high numbers in other countries. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has also been designed to direct support towards technologies that offer the greatest carbon savings.

The Government will keep its position on alternative electric heating technologies under review as the supporting evidence base develops.

In an unstable world, the only way to guarantee our energy security and protect billpayers from future energy shocks is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards home‑grown clean energy. Through supporting the transition to clean energy, Great British Energy will save families money by ensuring electricity bills are no longer exposed to the kinds of gas price shocks which helped drive increases in the electricity price cap of over £1,300 for a typical household during winter 22/23.

The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity by ensuring every child, no matter their circumstances, is well prepared for school and can achieve their full potential by providing a supportive start to the day.

The government has taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, every primary school in England will offer a free breakfast club. The department will be working closely with the sector on the details of the programme.

The Secretary of State recently met with water company bosses to make it clear that water firms will be held accountable for their performance for customers and the environment. During the meeting, water bosses signed up to the government’s initial package of reforms to reduce sewage pollution and attract investment to upgrade infrastructure.

The government also announced a new Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will turn around the performance of water companies, in the King’s Speech. The Bill will strengthen regulation, give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and increase accountability for water executives. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector.

I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July, HCWS3.

As set out in our manifesto, the Government is committed to supporting the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the rollout of chargepoints across the country. We will set out further plans in due course.

The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) protects disabled people against unlawful direct or indirect discrimination in employment, including by placing a duty on employers to make, on request, reasonable adjustments to any element of a job, job application or interview process, which may place disabled people at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people.

There are no current plans to amend the reasonable adjustments duty in the Act. In most cases, it is fairer to apply a “reasonableness” test which enables each situation to be considered on its merits, rather than impose rigid, universal requirements on employers and service providers. Where an employer takes an unreasonably long time to make a decision on a reasonable adjustment request, this omission could, of itself, potentially be considered a failure to make the adjustment, which could in turn be actionable by the affected person at an employment tribunal.

Following the announcement in the King's Speech in July to take forward work on an Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and this government's manifesto commitments to introduce the full right to equal pay for disabled people and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, the Disability Unit is currently taking forward work in these areas. Ministers will update the House as this work progresses.

No one should be forced to choose between their health and financial hardship, which is why we plan to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), so it provides a safety net for those who need it most. The Plan to Make Work Pay commits to remove the Lower Earnings Limit to make it available to all workers and remove the waiting period so that everyone receives fair earnings replacement when they have to take time off work.

Any changes to SSP will be accompanied by a full Regulatory Impact Assessment and Equalities Impact Assessment to assess the impact of the changes on a range of protected characteristics, but this will not directly assess the impact of the changes on the disability employment gap. However, we would expect that strengthening SSP would increase the overall employment rate of disabled people as well as reduce the difference between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people.

The Government has ambitious employment plans, including for disability employment. We will be setting this out through a forthcoming White Paper, the Employment Rights Bill and the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. A fully inclusive labour market that enables disabled people and people with health conditions to have access to the same opportunities as everyone else to the benefits of work is crucial to meeting our ambition for an 80% employment rate.

Employers play a key role in supporting the health of their workforce and minimising health-related job loss. Proactive initiatives from employers and all parts of society, such as the Disability Employment Charter, to support disabled people and people with health conditions to thrive in work are welcome. While the Government has not made a formal assessment of its impact, we know that the employers signed up to the Disability Employment Charter are sending a positive message to current and potential employees.

The Government has ambitious employment plans, including for disability employment. We will be setting this out through a forthcoming White Paper, the Employment Rights Bill and the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. A fully inclusive labour market that enables disabled people and people with health conditions to have access to the same opportunities as everyone else to the benefits of work is crucial to meeting our ambition for an 80% employment rate.

Employers play a key role in supporting the health of their workforce and minimising health-related job loss. Proactive initiatives from employers and all parts of society, such as the Disability Employment Charter, to support disabled people and people with health conditions to thrive in work are welcome. While the Government has not made a formal assessment of its impact, we know that the employers signed up to the Disability Employment Charter are sending a positive message to current and potential employees.