Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses.

Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.

Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and is focussed on building good homes, creating strong communities, and ensuring the proceeds of growth can be felt across every part of the country. Local leadership is at the heart of this, which is why we are giving local leaders more tools to deliver for their areas and targeting funding where it is needed most.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As of 2 of September 2025, 481 individuals employed by the Department have declared that they have a disability.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

There are currently 1,386 people employed in the department, including the Executive Agencies, who have declared that they have a disability.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Latest figures show that 12.4 per cent of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have a disability. This is up from 7.5 per cent when the FCDO was formed in 2020. Reporting rates in the delegated grades has consistently been below 60 per cent, the threshold set by Cabinet Office/ONS to allow us to have data confidence. The FCDO is encouraging staff to share their disability data so we can better understand outcomes for our staff, however this is voluntary.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 28814 on Lead: Paint, if he will make it his policy to issue updated guidance.

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

The Environmental Protection (Controls on Injurious Substances) Regulations 1992 banned the use of lead paint, except for certain specialist uses. Concerns over the presence of lead paint should be referred to a certified lead-based paint risk assessor, who can assist you in following the necessary steps, guidelines including safety protocols. The Government is not currently planning to release further guidance on lead paint.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle environmental harm in (a) South West Norfolk constituency and (b) Norfolk.

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

The Environment Agency (EA) regulates businesses in energy, agriculture, and waste, and is the environmental regulator for water companies. It prosecutes polluters, protects against flood risk and coastal erosion, and is a Category 1 Responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, working with local responders during flood incidents. In Norfolk, the EA advises on planning applications and supports Local Planning Authorities in developing Local Plans, ensuring flood risk, climate change, and water environment issues are addressed. It partners with other organisations including Local Authorities and the Police to tackle environmental waste crime using an intelligence-led enforcement approach. The EA investigates poor water quality sites and implements pollution reduction actions. Regulation of water companies has increased significantly, with over 700 inspections of Anglian Water wastewater assets completed last year - more than the previous four years combined, with plans to double inspections again this year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 28814 on Lead: Paint, whether his Department is taking steps to help tackle toxic lead paint in (a) homes and (b) public buildings.

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

The Environmental Protection (Controls on Injurious Substances) Regulations 1992 banned the use of lead paint, except for certain specialist uses. Concerns over the presence of lead paint in private domiciles should be referred to a certified lead-based paint risk assessor, who can assist you in following the necessary steps, guidelines including safety protocols. Regarding public buildings, the HSE is responsible for regulating health and safety risks associated with paints and coatings, including those used in construction and refurbishment.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses.

Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.

Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and is committed to ensuring there is a suitable low-carbon heat solution for every home, including rural properties, through the Warm Homes Plan. The government recognises that heat pumps may not be the best solution for all buildings. Other low carbon heating technologies are available, and the government offers grants of £5,000 for biomass boilers in off-gas-grid rural homes under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). The department has recently consulted on expanding BUS to support other low carbon heating technologies.

The government is offering energy efficiency upgrades to rural low-income homeowners through the Warm Homes: Local Grant, with support available until 2028.

The Local Net Zero Delivery Group convenes Government Ministers and local government leaders, including from rural areas, to discuss net zero strategy, policy and delivery, this provides a forum which supports rural proofing.

Great British Energy, the new publicly owned energy company, will be supporting community energy schemes, including in rural communities, as it delivers its mission to accelerate clean power deployment.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Disability Status of Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Servants headcount is provided in the table below as at 1 August 2025. It is important to note that the disability status of MOD Civil Servants is based on voluntary self-declarations, as recorded on the MOD human resource system, MyHR. These figures include those employed by MOD Main Top Level Budgetary areas (TLBs) and MOD Executive Agencies (UK Hydrographic Office, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, Submarine Delivery Agency and Defence Equipment & Support).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed. Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses.

Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.

Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously and will consider the impact of relevant spending, regulation, tax or financial services policy decisions on the rural economy.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The number of employees who have declared they are disabled as of 31 August 2025 in the department is 535.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

DEFRA leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses.

Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.

Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously. In the Get Britain Working White Paper published in November 2024, the Government committed to giving local leaders increased powers to design and deliver approaches to employment support which were tailored to local needs.

All areas across England have been asked to produce local Get Britain Working plans which cover labour market priorities and challenges within their areas – including those impacted by rurality – and to work collectively across organisations including local government, Jobcentre Plus, and the local NHS to address these.

As set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. We will develop an enhanced digital offer accessible for everyone. Our vision for our new service is for people to be able to access support through the channels that best meet their needs – whether that is online, on the phone or in person.

Furthermore, the Flexible Support Fund is a non-recoverable discretionary fund that can be used to support eligible customers to move into employment, increase their earnings whilst in work or move closer to the labour market. Common barriers it can help to remove include, childcare costs; travel costs, clothing, and essential tools and equipment. It could be used to provide financial assistance which may help eligible rural customers overcome logistical barriers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help increase awareness of (a) Access to Work and (b) other employment support programmes.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Access to Work aims to support the recruitment and retention of disabled people into employment. It is a personalised discretionary grant that provides support with workplace adjustments beyond an employer’s obligation as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.

As part of our Plan for Change, and as set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published in March, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the programme to help more disabled people into work and support employers.

We will review all aspects of Access to Work after evaluating the findings of the Pathways to Work consultation.

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 scheme covers all disabilities, including hidden disabilities. It provides employers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face.

We recognise there are opportunities to improve the scheme, and I have been discussing ideas for making the Disability Confident scheme criteria more robust, and officials are continuing to engage with stakeholders to discuss reform proposals.

In addition, DWP has a digital information service for employers, (www.support-with-employee-health-and-disability.dwp.gov.uk), which provides tailored guidance to businesses to support employees to remain in work. This includes guidance on health disclosures and having conversations about health, plus guidance on legal obligations, including statutory sick pay and making reasonable adjustments.

In January this year, we launched an expert academic panel to advise us on boosting neurodiversity awareness and inclusion at work. The panel will consider the reasons why neurodivergent people have poor experiences in the workplace, and a low overall employment rate, making their recommendations later this year.

In our Get Britain Working White Paper, published November 2024, we committed support for employers to recruit, retain and develop staff. As part of that, the Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead ‘Keep Britain Working’, an independent review to consider how best to support and enable employers to recruit and retain more people with health conditions and disabilities, promote healthy workplaces, and support more people to stay in or return to work from periods of sickness absence. Sir Charlie Mayfield will deliver a final report with recommendations in the autumn.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

As of the 31 July 2025, there are 5542 Home Office employees with a disability.

Please be aware this is based on a self-declaration survey and not all Home Office employees have made a declaration either way. Therefore, figure above will not be a true representation of all disabled staff with the Home Office.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

Rural proofing is important because rural communities are an important part of the economy. Rural areas are home to around one-fifth of England’s population and half a million registered businesses.

Policy outcomes in rural areas can be affected by economies of scale, distance, sparsity and demography. That is why it is important that government policies consider how they can be delivered in rural areas. Rural proofing ensures that these areas receive fair and equitable policy outcomes.

Our department takes its obligation to rural proofing seriously. Through the Arts Council England, funding to Rural areas has increased to around £44 million a year to 110 organisations.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people with disabilities were employed in his Department on 2 September 2025.

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

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each Government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps their Department is taking to implement the guidance entitled The government’s approach to rural proofing 2025, published on 15 May 2025.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government has made a commitment that all policy decision-making should be rural proofed. Rural proofing ensures that rural areas are not overlooked and that the intended outcomes are deliverable in rural areas.

Defra leads on rural proofing, but individual departments are responsible for ensuring that their policy decision-making is rural proofed.

The Digital Inclusion Action Plan – First Steps, published in February 2025, sets out our first actions to tackle digital exclusion. While it outlines key demographic groups, it recognises that rural communities are also impacted.

To ensure rural areas are not left behind and have access to digital infrastructure, we are continuing to deliver gigabit-capable broadband and 4G mobile coverage through Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found in Table 29 of the statistical tables, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025.

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people with disabilities were employed in her Department on 2 September 2025.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as at 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025.

Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

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