Mary Robinson

The Government carried out a post-legislative scrutiny review of the Equality Act 2010 (the Act) in 2015, which can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-legislative-memorandum-the-equality-act-2010

The review noted that, in the area of disability, the Act introduced a number of protections that had not been present in the Disability Discrimination Act. These included the extension of indirect discrimination to disability; the introduction of discrimination arising from disability (where a disabled person is treated unfavourably because of something that happens in consequence of their disability); and the extension of the duty on employers and suppliers of goods and services to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons.

Under the Act, service providers have an anticipatory duty to make such adjustments. This means that where reasonable, they must identify and make the adjustments that disabled people might in future require in order to purchase or use their goods, facilities and services without being put at a substantial disadvantage compared to those that do not have a disability. This duty, which can ultimately be enforced in court, applies to the organisers of professional networking events in the same way as to other service providers.

More widely, the Government is fully committed to assisting disabled people access the labour market, for example through Access to Work. This is the Government’s scheme to fund practical support above and beyond the reasonable adjustments that an employer has a duty to make under the Equality Act 2010 for workers with a health condition or disability that affects the way they perform their job. Support is individually tailored and can include travel to work, support workers and specialist aids and equipment. The scheme is also open to self-employed disabled people.

Access to Work helped 36,470 individuals last year and the Spending Review provided for a real-terms increase in funding, starting in 2016/17, to enable the scheme to support an additional 25,000 people by the end of the Parliament.

Through our reforms, more than 1300 employers are designing new apprenticeships standards that are more responsive to the needs of business. 194 standards have been published with over 150 new standards in development, including the new Large Goods Vehicle Driver standard.

Subject to final approval, this new apprenticeship standard will provide the sector with an excellent opportunity to develop a new generation of drivers in a way that meets their specific requirements.

In addition, in June Jobcentre Plus and the Road Haulage Association launched “Driving Britain’s Future”. This 12-month scheme will identify 2,400 work experience placements for Jobcentre Plus customers with logistics employers.

Getting children and young people back into education, with settings devoting time to supporting wellbeing, will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health. The return to school will allow social interaction with peers, carers and teachers, which benefits wellbeing. The department has now published detailed plans?for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September. The guidance for schools is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

We have been working hard to ensure that all pupils and learners will return to a full high-quality education programme in September. Our £1 billion Covid catch-up package, with £650 million shared across schools over the 2020-21 academic year, will support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. More information is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/billion-pound-covid-catch-up-plan-to-tackle-impact-of-lost-teaching-time.

As pupils return to school, staff need to be equipped to understand that some children and young people may be experiencing feelings in such as anxiety, stress or low mood as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, and that these are normal responses to an abnormal situation. Our Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools Advice includes information about what to look for in terms of underlying mental health issues, linked to the graduated response and the support that might be suitable. More information is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.

From September, the Government is investing £8 million to launch the new Wellbeing for Education Return training programme, which will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents, to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This is additional to?longer term work to improve support, including?the?new?mental health support teams that we are rolling out?across the country,?linked to schools and colleges. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/8m-programme-to-boost-pupil-and-teacher-wellbeing.

The department in collaboration with Public Health England and NHS England, delivered two webinars in July to provide further mental health support. The first webinar was for schools and colleges?to support?teachers in?promoting?and supporting?the?mental wellbeing?of children and young people?during the COVID-19 outbreak.?The second event was for?stakeholders?across the local system?to?support?strengthening of local partnerships?to?further?support?children and young people’s mental health as they return to school. We had around 10,000 sign up to the first webinar and around 1,300 to the second, and they are now available online for wider use.

We continue to working in partnership across education, health, the voluntary sector and local authorities to ensure that children and young people, parents and carers, and the professionals supporting them:

• can access good-quality resources
• are confident in supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing (as well as their own) and

• ensure access to specialist services when they’re needed.

Access to mental health support is more important than ever during the COVID-19 outbreak. NHS mental services remain open. All NHS mental health trusts are providing 24/7 open access telephone lines to support people of all ages. The Government has also provided over £9 million to mental health charities to ensure they can continue to support people experiencing mental health challenges throughout the outbreak.

We are increasing funding to improve participation for 16 to 19 year olds, introducing T-Levels, investing in further education (FE) and providing support for college improvement.

The Office for Students and Ofsted hold higher education and FE providers to account for delivering quality and successful outcomes.

The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework incentivises quality teaching, and new digital tools support student choice.

The Department for Education is responsible for legislation in relation to intercountry adoption; and provides guidance on the process. The Department does not provide advice on individual cases and independent legal advice may need to be sought. Prospective adopters habitually resident in the UK, who wish to undertake an intercountry adoption need to register with a UK adoption agency, who will lead them through the process.

Information on the intercountry adoption process can be found using the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/child-adoption/adopting-a-child-from-overseas

The UK government is deeply concerned about the allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority’s school textbooks.

The International Development Secretary reiterated our concerns in a call to the Palestinian Authority’s Education Minister just last month, where they also discussed the Palestinian Authority’s own textbook review.

The Board of Trade champions exports, as well as inward and outward investment to deliver economic growth and prosperity across the whole of the UK. The Board has met four times, has launched two successful programmes: the BOFTAs and the National Trade Academy Programme - celebrating innovative British exporters and encouraging young people to pursue careers in international trade.

The Bus Services Act 2017 received Royal Assent on 27^th April, and the majority of the provisions in the Act commenced on 27^th June. Greater Manchester Combined Authority therefore now have access to the franchising and partnership powers set out in the Act.

Local authorities do not have powers to independently extend eligibility. The criteria are set by statutory instrument. The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended) contain a number of criteria covering those who do not qualify automatically, including a provision for any permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking. It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess whether applicants meet any of the criteria.

People with autism are not excluded from being issued a badge. Any permanent and substantial disability that causes very considerable difficulty walking falls within the criteria. It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess the degree of difficulty and to issue badges accordingly. We have no plans to provide badges to carers.

Local authorities do not have powers to independently extend eligibility. The criteria are set by statutory instrument. The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000 (as amended) contain a number of criteria covering those who do not qualify automatically, including a provision for any permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking. It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess whether applicants meet any of the criteria.

People with autism are not excluded from being issued a badge. Any permanent and substantial disability that causes very considerable difficulty walking falls within the criteria. It is the responsibility of local authorities to assess the degree of difficulty and to issue badges accordingly. We have no plans to provide badges to carers.

Of the 31 recommendations, 28 have been implemented and another has been partially implemented.

The Pension Schemes Act 2021 provides The Pensions Regulator with new powers to target people who intentionally or knowingly mishandle pension schemes, or put workers’ pensions at risk.

There are a number of ways the Department helps people with disabilities who are entitled to Housing Benefit and are renting in the private sector.

The enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payments funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable LAs to protect vulnerable claimants and support households affected by the Housing Benefit reforms.

In addition to this, single disabled people under 35 years of age who are in receipt of the severe disability premium are exempt from the shared accommodation rate under the Local Housing Allowance scheme.

Disabled people with overnight care needs may be eligible for an additional bedroom for a non-resident carer under the size criteria rules.

Since January 2013, the National Health Service has reported 17 deaths of patients under the care of inpatient children and young people’s mental health services. Following the written statement to Parliament by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health and Innovation (Nicola Blackwood) on 20 January 2017 (HCWS 427), all deaths of patients under the care of inpatient children and young people’s mental health services are reported to Ministers and the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness which will include the figures in its annual reports.

Patient safety is a key priority for this Government and we published Learning from Deaths guidance to the NHS in 2017 to improve the way the NHS investigates and learns from deaths to prevent future tragedies. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care also announced a zero suicide ambition for mental health inpatients in January this year, which is supported by £25 million of investment, so that every mental health provider of NHS services has a zero suicide policy in place.

The Care Act (2014) placed duties on local authorities making them responsible for ensuring there is an effective pool of quality providers of social care in their area with capacity to meet the needs of their local population, this includes specialist care needed to support people with dementia. The Department is supporting local authorities to influence their local market through improved market facilitation and commissioning to ensure that local markets are effective.

Local authorities engage with their providers to signal changes needed in capacity including through publishing a Market Position Statement.

The Department has worked with Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, Local Government Association, the care sector and other partners to produce a wide range of guidance and support about market shaping and commissioning. We have brought this together in an on-line Hub that is now published on GOV.UK at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-market-shaping/adult-social-care-market-shaping

The Department continues to monitor capacity and effectiveness of the market.

Following our 2015 Budget commitment on defibrillators, we have awarded the British Heart Foundation £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England.

There is currently no agreement in place specifically for the purpose of UK nationals buying homes in Croatia and vice versa. The FCDO is actively working to try and find a solution to ensure that British Nationals who wish to purchase property in Croatia are able to do so.

We are extremely concerned about Iran’s announcement. We will continue working with our Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) partners – in particular with Germany and France – to keep the nuclear deal in place. We have been consistently clear with Iran that our commitment to the JCPoA depends on full Iranian compliance. We urge Iran to reverse the steps it has taken. We believe maintaining the nuclear deal is in the best interests of Iran, the region and the UK.

As amended in the other place, the Financial Services and Markets Bill protects free access to cash by requiring the Financial Conduct Authority to seek to ensure that, in the United Kingdom, there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts with relevant providers.

The UK is working with Allies to ensure NATO continues to protect the Euro-Atlantic area from current and future threats. At the Summit on 14 June, leaders agreed new proposals on deterrence and defence, emerging and disruptive technology, resilience, strengthening relationships with NATO Partners and climate security. NATO remains the cornerstone of our defence and the UK is the leading European Ally in the Alliance.

The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) over-riding priority is to provide national security for the UK as a whole and its extensive regional footprint exists to provide UK national security.

Spending or investment decisions are appraised on the basis of costs and benefits to UK society overall irrespective of the location of the expenditure, as required by HM Treasury Green Book.

The department does not routinely undertake assessments of the effect of national spending or investment decisions on local economies.

MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Commerce and Supported Employment is published at the Government Office Regional level as a National Statistic at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774871/Finance_and_economics_annual_statistical_bulletin_201718.pdf

All tenants should have access to a good quality and safe home, which is why we have for the private rented sector strengthened councils’ enforcement powers, introducing penalties of up to £30,000, extending rent repayment orders and introduced banning orders for the most serious and prolific offenders.

We published our white paper in June setting out plans to deliver a Fairer Private Rented Sector, raising the bar on quality. In September we consulted on the introduction of a Decent Home Standard in the private rented sector. The consultation closed on 14 October, and we are considering responses.

Each application we receive to the fund is assessed against its potential for community benefit and how this will be sustained through community ownership.

Each of the 22 bids funded so far will be closely monitored to assess their impact on community cohesion. My department will run a full evaluation of the four-year programme.

People who, like me, live in the North are seeing record investment in transport already, releasing the potential of our economy to be more than the sum of its parts. The Northern Powerhouse economy is larger than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland’s combined: on its own, it would be the 8th largest economy in Europe.

Over 2,100 groups have started the neighbourhood planning process in areas covering nearly 12 million people. Over 360 plans have successfully passed referendum.

The Neighbourhood Planning Act will further boost community engagement, providing a powerful set of tools for local people to get the development that their communities need.

I refer my honourable Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to the honourable members for Somerton and Frome, Ribble Valley, Pudsey and South Leicestershire.