Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people with disabilities are treated fairly in employment application processes.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

Under the Equality Act 2010 (the 2010 Act) it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against disabled employees and applicants. Specifically, employers are required to make reasonable adjustments in relation to the disabled employee’s job or during the recruitment process, which ensure that disabled employees are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their non-disabled colleagues. Failure to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee or job seeker, or discounting a job application simply because the applicant is disabled, could amount to direct disability discrimination under the 2010 Act.

The EHRC has published guidance for employers on supporting employees with reasonable adjustments: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/supporting-disabled-workers-hybrid-working-guidance-employers and https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/guidance/business/employing-people-workplace-adjustments.

The Government also supports a range of initiatives to improve disability inclusion at work.

This includes the Access to Work Scheme (AtW), a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment. AtW provides grant funding to disabled people, as well as those with a health condition and supports workplace adjustments that go beyond what would normally be expected from an employer through their duty to provide reasonable adjustments as outlined in the 2010 Act.

In addition, to retain disabled employees, the Disability Confident scheme encourages employers to create disability inclusive workplaces and to support disabled people to get work and get on in work.

The June 2026 update to the Keep Britain Working review has reported that over 250 employers, providers and other organisations are working together, with better disability employment participation as one of the Review’s central objectives. Work is under way with Vanguard organisations and academic partners to improve measurement of disability participation, creating the outcome-focused foundations for more inclusive practices across UK employers.

We are also changing legislation through the Employment Rights Act 2025 to make it more likely that flexible working requests are accepted by introducing a reasonableness test. These changes will take effect in 2027.

We continue to monitor and support legislation to help ensure that people with disabilities are treated fairly in employment application processes and in the workplace.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Civil Contingencies Act to enable livestock owners and farmers to support their livestock during emergencies such as water outages.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Animal Welfare Codes, made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, recommend that keepers should have contingency plans for events such as the disruption of feed, power or water supply.

The Government expects water companies to provide a secure and resilient supply of water at all times. Disruptions to water supplies can have significant consequences for animal health and farm operations, underlining the importance of water companies maintaining robust resilience and contingency plans.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many projects were funded through the Water Management Grant between its inception and 4th July 2024 inclusive.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Between the Water Management Grant inception and 4 July 2024 inclusive, 52 Grant Funding Agreements had been issued, following this a further 28 Grant Funding Agreements have been issued since 5 July 2024. We have so far paid 84 claims against these agreements, and some projects are still in progress and have not yet received payment. Beneficiaries may also submit more than one claim, so payment figures do not directly equate to the number of projects funded.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many projects have been funded through the Water Management Grant since 5th July 2024.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Between the Water Management Grant inception and 4 July 2024 inclusive, 52 Grant Funding Agreements had been issued, following this a further 28 Grant Funding Agreements have been issued since 5 July 2024. We have so far paid 84 claims against these agreements, and some projects are still in progress and have not yet received payment. Beneficiaries may also submit more than one claim, so payment figures do not directly equate to the number of projects funded.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding was provided to abattoirs through the Smaller Abattoir Fund between its inception and July 4th 2024 inclusive.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Before and including 4 July 2024, 12 Grant Funding Agreements, with a total value of £208,987, had been issued through the Smaller Abattoir Fund. Of this, one payment of £7,875 had been made to a successful applicant by that date.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been provided to abattoirs through the Smaller Abattoir Fund since July 5th 2024.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Since 5 July 2024, 38 Grant Funding Agreements, with a total value of £910,264, have been issued through the Smaller Abattoir Fund. Of this, £687,734 has been paid to successful applicants to date.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps they are taking to support local councils to be able to provide young people with Special Educational Needs with school transport.

Answered by Olivia Bailey

The department’s home-to-school travel policy aims to make sure no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home-to-school travel for children of compulsory school age who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of their special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or mobility problem

Local authorities must also ensure that transport arrangements do not prevent young people, including those with SEND, from accessing post-16 education and have a duty to set out available support in their annual Transport Policy Statement and Local Offer.

The department knows challenges in the SEND system are creating pressures on home-to-school travel. The department will reform the SEND system to enable more children to thrive in local mainstream settings. This will mean fewer children needing to travel long distances to access education.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps they are taking to tackle plastic pollution.

Answered by Mary Creagh

We have several restrictions on unnecessary single-use plastic products, including a ban on the supply of single-use vapes and a ban on supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic in England, marking a major step forward in tackling the plastic and microplastic pollution that harms our waterways.

The UK is working internationally to agree a new international, legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution and is committed to working with a range of other countries to secure an agreement at the next round of negotiations in March 2027.