First elected: 8th June 2017
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Marsha De Cordova, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Marsha De Cordova has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Marsha De Cordova has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
A Bill to amend the law relating to parking on verges and footways in England outside of Greater London and in Wales.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to publish a national eye health strategy for England; and to require that strategy to include measures for improving eye health outcomes, for reducing waiting times for eye health care, for improving patient experiences of eye health care, for ensuring that providers of eye health care work together in an efficient way, for increasing the capacity and skills of the eye health care workforce, and for making more effective use of research and innovation in eye health care.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require freeholders of certain properties that have failed fire safety tests to carry out remedial work; to make provision for sanctions for such freeholders who fail to carry out such work; to ensure that leaseholders are not held liable for the costs of such work; to make provision for a loan scheme to assist freeholders in carrying out such work; and for connected purposes.
Offensive Weapons Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Helen Hayes (Lab)
Care Supporters Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Dan Carden (Lab)
Child Criminal Exploitation Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Lab)
Pension Charges Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Angela Eagle (Lab)
Toilets (Provision and Accessibility) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Paula Sherriff (Lab)
Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018
Sponsor - Steve Reed (LAB)
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
Sponsor - Karen Buck (Lab)
The Government is fully committed to the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), which protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace. The Act prohibits direct and indirect disability discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and applicants/candidates, to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their non-disabled colleagues. This could include improving access to premises for wheelchair users, through installing ramps or other auxiliary aids or services.
The failure of an employer to make reasonable adjustments could amount to direct disability discrimination. However, the Act also recognises the need to strike a balance between the needs of disabled employees and the circumstances of their employers. What is ‘reasonable’ will therefore depend on the circumstances of each case.
Strong legal remedies are available to employees and applicants who feel that they have experienced disability discrimination by an employer. Guidance and codes of practice have been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Acas, to help employers follow the law and employees and applicants understand their rights.
The Government launched a consultation on improving minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector on 7th February 2025.
The Government is committed to protecting and improving the rights of tenants. The Renters’ Rights Bill will put in place new regulations to protect tenants. This includes providing stronger protections to ensure that tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents, abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’, and moving to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic. These measures provide more security for tenants and enable them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases without fear of eviction.
The Government has no plans to introduce an energy social tariff this winter. However, we are committed to ensuring vulnerable households are supported with their energy bills and we are looking at all options on how to support these households.
The Government is continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 rebate off energy bills to over 3 million eligible low-income households. We are also working with energy suppliers to ensure they are providing additional support to vulnerable customers.
The Government has also extended the Household Support Fund for an additional 6 months until 31 March 2025 with an extra £500 million in funding, and I encourage any individual who is struggling to pay their bills contacts their local authority to see if they are eligible for this support.
The Government believes that the only way to permanently protect billpayers, including disabled households, is to speed up the transition towards homegrown clean energy and reduce our reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets.
Whilst we make this transition, the Government is committed to ensuring vulnerable households are supported with their energy bills and we are looking at all options on how to support these households.
In the short-term, we are continuing to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 annual rebate on energy bills for eligible low-income households. We are also working with energy suppliers to ensure they are providing additional support to vulnerable customers that are struggling with bills.
The Warm Home Discount Scheme is currently focused to support those on lowest incomes who receive means-tested benefits and are living in a property we have estimated to be relatively high cost to heat. This winter’s scheme has been launched today, 14 October, and we expect it to support over three million households. We are exploring options to improve the design of the scheme beyond the current regulations which expire in 2026.
The Government recognises that consumer energy debt is a large and increasing issue, and it expects energy suppliers to do everything they can to support customers who are struggling with bills, especially vulnerable customers. It is important that anyone who is struggling to pay their energy bills contact their supplier.
In August, I met with suppliers and encouraged them to build on the Voluntary Debt Commitment from last year and go further in supporting vulnerable customers this winter.
For central government services, departments are required by the Government Service Standard to meet the minimum of level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 (which is the current version) for services that are in public beta or live.
Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations require most public sector organisations to ensure their services, websites, published documents, intranets, extranets and apps are accessible to disabled people by meeting the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.2 to level AA and by publishing a prescribed format accessibility statement.
The Department continues to monitor the Listed Places of Worship grant scheme through the regular reporting of the grant administrator, EMB. Since 2010, the Government has returned over £350 million to listed churches, synagogues, mosques and temples through the grant scheme continuing their work as centres of worship and community assets, in places all over the country, including areas of low economic activity.
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
The Government is committed to improving access to sports and physical activity for everyone, including disabled people, older people and women and girls. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.
The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.
Sport England provides long term investment to The Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for 5 years from 2022 to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone, including disabled people.
Decisions with regards to future departmental budgets will be made as part of the spending review process.
The National Careers Service is a free, universal, government-funded careers information, advice and guidance service for everyone aged 13 and above in England.
All young people aged 13 to 18 can access information and advice through the webchat and telephone helpline, which are supported by local community-based careers advisers. This support from the National Careers Service supplements the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance by schools and colleges.
The department regularly reviews the accessibility of the National Careers Service website to ensure it continues to meet the needs of all users, including those with visual impairments. The service is committed to making its website accessible for all users, in accordance with accessibility regulations. This includes ensuring users are able to listen to most of the website using a screen reader. An up-to-date version of the accessibility statement is available online.
Young adults aged 19 years and over, or aged 18 for those who are not in education, employment or training, can also access the service via face-to-face support from community-based careers advisers.
Adults with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are one of the priority groups for the service. They can access in-depth, tailored support from professionally qualified careers advisers, drawing on localised labour market information, including face-to-face support, information and advice through webchat, telephone helpline and website.
The National Careers Service has worked with the Thomas Pocklington Trust to offer advice to careers practitioners relating to the Trust’s work to improve the opportunities of blind and partially sighted people.
As outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, Jobcentre Plus will be brought together with the National Careers Service in England, to create a new Jobs and Careers Service, transforming the experience for all users. Accessibility for all, including blind or partially sighted customers, will continue to be a priority.
This government is determined to tackle the generational challenge of school absence and to ensure that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, which limits their opportunity to succeed. There is evidence that more students are attending school this year compared to last, thanks to the sector’s efforts, although around 1.6 million children remain persistently absent and miss 10% or more of lessons.
The department has a national approach to supporting all schools to tackle absence, including those in the Battersea constituency. Central to this approach are stronger expectations of local authorities and schools, including special schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which was made statutory on 19 August 2024. The guidance can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.
The guidance promotes a support first approach and sets out clear expectations on how schools, trusts, local authorities and wider services should work together and with families to address attendance barriers and provide the right support, including where a pupil is not attending due to special educational needs. The department is committed to ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs and will work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission and restore parents’ trust.
Every state school in England should now be sharing their daily attendance register data with the department, local authorities and trusts. These bodies can access this data through a secure, interactive dashboard which is maintained by the department, allowing them to target attendance interventions more effectively.
The department is strengthening its tools for faster and more effective school improvement by launching the new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams. Supported by over £20 million, these teams will offer both mandatory targeted intervention for schools identified by Ofsted as needing to improve and a universal service, acting as a catalyst for a self-improving system for all schools. The RISE teams are now beginning work with the first 30 schools eligible for the targeted, bespoke service, with additional schools to begin in April.
School attendance is also supported by broader investments, such as funded breakfast clubs, across all primary schools, including special schools, to ensure children start their day ready to learn.
The department is working across government on plans to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults.
Schools can also allocate pupil premium funding, which has now increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, which can be used to support eligible pupils to attend school regularly.
The UK fully supported the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and has already submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity National Targets that are fully aligned with the Framework. We will publish the full UK National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in due course, and we will provide an assessment of our progress in the implementation of the KMGBF, including progress towards the national targets, in our seventh and eighth national reports in February 2026 and June 2029, respectively.
The UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2030 and 2035 targets – to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% and 81% respectively on 1990 levels – are a fair and ambitious contribution to global action on climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement temperature goal, and remains in place.
We are absolutely committed to our climate targets. That is why making Britain a clean energy superpower is one of the five missions of this Government - delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating the transition to net zero across the economy. This will make it easier and affordable for people across the country to move towards sustainable lifestyles.
The UK was the first major economy to halve its emissions, cutting them by around 53% between 1990 and 2023, while growing our economy by 79%.
The UK over-achieved against the first, second and third Carbon Budgets, and we will deliver an updated cross-economy plan in due course, which will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver carbon budgets 4-6 and the 2030 and 2035 NDCs on a pathway to net zero.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 July 2024 to the Rt Hon Member for Islington North, PQ 592.
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
The use of farrowing crates for pigs is an issue we will want to fully consider in due course.
Government remains committed to supporting London and the transport network on which it depends. We recently provided £485m in funding to support Transport for London’s (TfL) capital programme for 2025/26 and will continue to work with TfL to understand its capital funding needs, which will be considered at Phase 2 of the Spending Review. However, transport in London is devolved to the Mayor of London and TfL and it is for the Mayor to assess the merits of capital projects and make decisions on investment.
Ensuring accessibility for all passengers is at the heart of the Government’s passenger-focussed approach. We know that the experience for disabled people when traveling on rail too often falls short of what is expected and what passengers deserve. We are committed to improving the experience for disabled passengers and have committed to publishing an accessibility roadmap to explain the actions we are taking to improve accessibility ahead of GBR.
We are working to define the approach to development of the roadmap, but I confirm we will engage with disabled people and key organisations, in line with our commitment in the House of Lords as part of the debate on the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act, in order to ensure that it addresses the issues and needs of passengers who require assistance.
Southeastern ticket office changes were agreed under the previous Government. The Department is now examining these plans to ensure passengers remain supported.
We recognise the vital role ticket offices play in the journeys of people with disabilities, and ensuring accessibility for all passengers is at the heart of our passenger-focused approach.
We are carefully considering the best approach to the Access for All programme. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
As part of staff on-boarding and induction into DWP, staff complete learning for customers with sight loss. The learning provides the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, and an overview of the support available to customers including the challenges that individuals with sight loss may face.
Work coaches in Jobcentres also have a point of needs learning products, allowing them to support blind and visually impaired customers.
Access to Work support workers undergo learning which provides details of the funding that is available to support customers with sight loss. This includes the funding of lenses, colour tests and tinted glasses for health conditions, such as Irlens Syndrome (not for general sight loss) when a prescription is given from an optometrist for corrective vision.
Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in paid employment. We recognise the important role that volunteering, and other programmes can play in securing employment, and DWP provides support for individuals participating in supported internships and applicable apprenticeships and traineeships. There are no plans to extend Access to Work to those on formal volunteering placements.
In March 2025, we published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to consult on the future of Access to Work. We are considering the role of employers in creating accessible and inclusive workplaces, as well as the future of assistive technology.
Employers at level 2 and level 3 of the Disability Confident scheme are asked if they employ disabled people at the point of applying for or renewing their membership at these levels. Organisations applying for or renewing at level 2 have only been asked whether they employ disabled people since the 20th of February 2024. Organisations applying for or renewing at level 1 are not asked to provide this information.
As of the 1st April 2025, the data collected shows that, of all employers asked this question (2,454 employers in total), the majority (91%) reported they do employ disabled people. Less than one percent of employers said they do not employ disabled people, and 9 percent did not respond or did not know. Due to the specific and self-reported nature of the management information collected, it may not provide an accurate reflection of the employment of disabled people across all Disability Confident members and should therefore be treated with caution.
In 2022, the Department commissioned a survey of Disability Confident members. Respondents included employers who were members at level 1, 2 and 3 of the scheme. The survey found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of employers reported having recruited at least one disabled employee or an employee who had a long-term health condition, since joining the Disability Confident scheme. More detail on this question can be accessed in the survey report on gov.uk using the following link: Disability Confident: survey of participating employers, May 2022 - GOV.UK
Information on the impacts of the “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper” will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement.
A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.
We will continue to work with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to estimate the potential labour market impacts of these proposals.
Since 2015, the style, scope and cost of support that disabled people require has changed significantly, as has the labour market, yet Access to Work has stayed broadly the same. We believe there is a strong case for looking at the future role and purpose of Access to Work, given the significant operational challenges it faces, its limited reach (it only supports around 1% of the working disabled population) and rising costs. We want to improve accessibility and support more disabled people into work and think Access to Work has a significant role in this.
In March 2025, the Pathways to Work Green paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work, and we are keen to hear the views and voices of disabled people and representative organisations, such as RNIB. We will consider all evidence during the review of Access to Work.
The Government is committed to working in partnership with disabled people and the organisations that represent them.
Following on from the publication of the Get Britain Working White Paper, we will establish a disability panel to ensure that disabled people’s views and voices are at the heart of the design and delivery of our employment reforms. We will carry out in-depth consultations to seek input and expertise from a wide range of stakeholders including disabled people, community groups and employers.
The government is committed to reforming or replacing the Work Capability Assessment, alongside putting in place a proper plan to support disabled people into work. We will say more about this in due course.
We will continue to engage with stakeholders to keep the views of disabled people and people with health conditions at the heart of what we do, as we consider our next steps.
No such assessment has been made. We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to ensure it is doing the job we need it to.
This Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people and to the principle of working with them, so that their views and voices will be at the heart of all that we do.
The Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising health and disability benefit services to improve user experience and increase trust in these services.
HTP service design has been informed by user research conducted with customers, operational staff and health care professionals, including one-to-one sessions with customers at each stage of their claim. The Department has also engaged with a significant number of stakeholder organisations, establishing positive relationships with representative groups by seeking their expertise before beginning to develop and test new processes.
This collaborative approach will help the department to tailor services to customer needs.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution to the extra costs that may arise from a disability or health condition. There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of PIP should be, as everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities.
PIP is a non-contributory, non-means-tested, additional cost benefit and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.
DWP pays close attention to the evidence base on the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019. In order to understand more, DWP is now undertaking a new a survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability related needs. This project has an advisory group of experts including representatives of the disability charity Scope, academic experts, and Disability Rights UK.
As part of the get Britain working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve. Forthcoming White Papers will develop policy in this area.
Good quality work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. We want people to avoid poverty, and for this to happen we must ensure that disabled people and people with health conditions have the opportunity to work and save for as long as they wish and are able to.
Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group who need access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time. We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including disabled Universal Credit claimants. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and the Work and Health Programme, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.
Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution to the extra costs that may arise from a disability or health condition. There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of PIP should be, as everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities.
PIP is a non-contributory, non-means-tested, additional cost benefit and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.
DWP pays close attention to the evidence base on the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019. In order to understand more, DWP is now undertaking a new a survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability related needs. This project has an advisory group of experts including representatives of the disability charity Scope, academic experts, and Disability Rights UK.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) provides a contribution to the extra costs that may arise from a disability or health condition. There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of PIP should be, as everyone has different requirements reflecting their own circumstances and priorities.
DWP pays close attention to the evidence base on the extra costs faced by disabled people; including academic research, analysis by Scope, and DWP’s own commissioned research on the Uses of Health and Disability Benefits from 2019. In order to understand more, DWP is now undertaking a new a survey of Personal Independence Payment customers to understand more about their disability related needs. This project has an advisory group of experts including representatives of the disability charity Scope and academic experts.
PIP is a non-contributory, non-means-tested, additional cost benefit and can be worth over £9,500 a year, tax free. Individuals can choose how to use the benefit, in the light of their individual needs and preferences. The benefit can also be paid in addition to any other financial or practical support someone may be entitled to such as Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, NHS services, free prescriptions, help with travel costs to appointments or the Blue Badge scheme. The benefits have been consistently uprated in line with inflation since they were introduced and were, like other benefits, increased by 6.7% from 8 April 2024.
Following commencement of the regulations made under the Health and Care Act 2022, new arrangements will come into effect to make information standards mandatory. Existing standards will need to go through a new process to become mandatory, and once a standard becomes mandatory, organisations will be expected to comply. The timing for the Accessible Information Standard will be considered along with those of the other existing standards. These arrangements are expected to happen this year, once the regulations have been approved by Parliament.
The intent of making information standards mandatory is to improve the rigour of standards, and the consistency of their application. The implementation of Section 95 should have a beneficial impact on those using services, by contributing to the effective operation of the health and care sector. The Accessible Information Standard is intended to improve the accessibility of information, while other standards often specify the technical basis for ensuring that data flows through the system in a usable and standardised form, improving the quality of care and patient outcomes. Information standards do not affect people’s rights.
NHS England commissioned the North of England Commissioning Support Unit to review compliance with the Accessible Information Standard, prior to reviewing the standard. Their findings matched the independent reviews undertaken by Sign Health and Healthwatch, that implementation was inconsistent. NHS England has considered how to strengthen compliance with the standard, including the requirement to identify local implementation leads, and the development and testing of a self-assessment framework.
Following commencement of the regulations made under the Health and Care Act 2022, new arrangements will come into effect to make information standards mandatory. Existing standards will need to go through a new process to become mandatory, and once a standard becomes mandatory, organisations will be expected to comply. The timing for the Accessible Information Standard will be considered along with those of the other existing standards. These arrangements are expected to happen this year, once the regulations have been approved by Parliament.
The intent of making information standards mandatory is to improve the rigour of standards, and the consistency of their application. The implementation of Section 95 should have a beneficial impact on those using services, by contributing to the effective operation of the health and care sector. The Accessible Information Standard is intended to improve the accessibility of information, while other standards often specify the technical basis for ensuring that data flows through the system in a usable and standardised form, improving the quality of care and patient outcomes. Information standards do not affect people’s rights.
NHS England commissioned the North of England Commissioning Support Unit to review compliance with the Accessible Information Standard, prior to reviewing the standard. Their findings matched the independent reviews undertaken by Sign Health and Healthwatch, that implementation was inconsistent. NHS England has considered how to strengthen compliance with the standard, including the requirement to identify local implementation leads, and the development and testing of a self-assessment framework.
Patients awaiting outpatient care make up over 85% of the elective waiting list, which includes children. Minimising missed appointments will help us to make sure we maximise the use of clinical time and ensure that all patients can be seen sooner. This is part of delivering on our commitment that 92% of patients, including children awaiting hospital-based eyecare, return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment.
The following table shows the recorded outcomes of outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointments in 2023/24, for children aged zero to 18 years old:
Outcome | Appointments |
Cancelled by hospital | 69,335 |
Cancelled by patient | 61,699 |
Did not attend | 61,904 |
Not known/other | 221 |
Attended | 377,520 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
No estimate has been made of the cost of missed appointments to outpatient paediatric ophthalmology because the Department does not hold information centrally on the extent to which outpatient clinics are overbooked based on the expectation that some appointments will be cancelled or marked as did not attend, and that clinicians may undertake other clinical work during these missed clinic appointments.
Patients awaiting outpatient care make up over 85% of the elective waiting list, which includes children. Minimising missed appointments will help us to make sure we maximise the use of clinical time and ensure that all patients can be seen sooner. This is part of delivering on our commitment that 92% of patients, including children awaiting hospital-based eyecare, return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment.
The following table shows the recorded outcomes of outpatient paediatric ophthalmology appointments in 2023/24, for children aged zero to 18 years old:
Outcome | Appointments |
Cancelled by hospital | 69,335 |
Cancelled by patient | 61,699 |
Did not attend | 61,904 |
Not known/other | 221 |
Attended | 377,520 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
No estimate has been made of the cost of missed appointments to outpatient paediatric ophthalmology because the Department does not hold information centrally on the extent to which outpatient clinics are overbooked based on the expectation that some appointments will be cancelled or marked as did not attend, and that clinicians may undertake other clinical work during these missed clinic appointments.
There are no current plans to require NHS England to publish Referral to Treatment waiting times for glaucoma, macular degeneration, and other irreversible sight loss conditions separately from minor and reversible eye condition waiting times.
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as rare inherited retinal diseases. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, including improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework, and will publish an England action plan in 2025.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether all licensed new medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of their costs and benefits, and NHS England ensures that funding is available for any licensed new medicines recommended by the NICE. The NICE aims to issue guidance on new medicines, including for rare diseases, as close to the time of licensing as possible. The NICE operates a separate Highly Specialised Technologies (HST) programme for very rare diseases, with significantly higher cost-effectiveness thresholds than those evaluated under the NICE’s standard technology appraisal processes. Decisions on whether new medicines should be evaluated through the HST programme are taken by the NICE against published routing criteria.
The NICE is currently appraising one treatment for treating visual impairment caused by a rare inherited retinal disease, and final guidance is expected to be published in April 2025.
We understand how vital it is to ensure that the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment or sensory loss are met by health services. A revised AIS is being reviewed with a view to publication once it has been through NHS England’s internal assurance and governance processes. NHS England are also working on ensuring accessible versions are available at the point of publication.
While we do not yet have a confirmed publication date, the current AIS remains in force and therefore, there should not be a gap in provision for people using services. NHS England is also continuing to work to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS.
Under the Accessible Information Standard, services should verify that where a patient needs to access information on a website, it is accessible to them. If not, services should make the information available in another way, for instance as a paper copy, via email, or as audio. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, National Health Service providers must have regard to information standards.
NHS England is unable to provide an exact date for the publication of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), due to their internal assurance and governance process. In addition, the AIS can only be published once the accessible versions are in place, all web content has been produced, and all stakeholders have been informed in advance, all of which can only be considered post-internal assurance and governance.
It should be noted that the current AIS remains in force and therefore, there should not be a gap in provision for people using services.
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
NHS England is in the process of developing updated e-learning training modules on the AIS, to complement the updated AIS. These will raise awareness of the standard and ensure that NHS staff can access up to date training on their roles and responsibilities under the AIS, which should support better and more consistent implementation of the standard.
The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) review has been completed, and the updated standard and supporting documents are in the process of being transferred to web copy. NHS England is working on ensuring accessible versions are available for publication, and is making updates to the AIS e-learning modules in line with the new standard. NHS England is ensuring that all stakeholders involved in the review of the AIS have had ample opportunity to feedback on the process. The AIS documentation is going through NHS England's publication approval process. NHS England cannot provide a specific date for publication of the AIS, but aim to publish it soon.
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
NHS England is in the process of developing updated e-learning training modules on the AIS, to complement the updated AIS. These will raise awareness of the standard and ensure that NHS staff can access up to date training on their roles and responsibilities under the AIS, which should support better and more consistent implementation of the standard.
NHS England is committed to implementing the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) effectively. NHS England has identified a number of ways to support the standard, including through a self-assessment framework, and has committed to reviewing the efficacy of implementation. This will be achieved through existing staffing and team allocations.
For health and care systems, the AIS is an existing standard which has been in place since 2016, and we would expect systems to implement it within existing budgets, making it a priority where any costs are accrued to implement it. NHS England has invested officer time in developing the standard, and will invest further staff time in the launch and suitable communications as planned.
NHS England remains committed to implementing the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) effectively, and this remains a priority for the People and Communities division. NHS England has identified a number of ways to support the standard, including through a self-assessment framework, and has committed to reviewing the efficacy of implementation.
When NHS England publishes anything, the item will require approval via their publications approval process. This involves checking the item for compliance with website accessibility guidelines as well as general accessibility, for example complexity of language. In addition, their Equality and Involvement team will, as part of the process, review the proposed content and approach, with a view to ensuring that it is compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality duty, before giving clearance. The Department has included the AIS within the NHS England mandate, which illustrates the commitment to NHS England implementing the AIS in its work.