Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he expects the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work to be appointed.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
My Hon. Friend, the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies MP) has been appointed as the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, and will build on the Government’s strong track record of supporting disabled people, having delivered millions of cost of living payments and helping over one million more disabled people into work five years earlier than planned. The Minister will help ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Prime Minister will make an assessment of the potential merits of making Downing Street subject to the reporting requirements of Section 2 of the British Sign Language Act 2022 on a voluntary basis.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to ensuring that government communications are available and accessible across multiple channels and in a number of alternative formats in order to meet a range of needs.
British Sign Language interpretation is provided for the vast majority of No.10 press conferences via the BBC News channel (available on Freeview) and iPlayer through the BBC. For No.10 press conferences that do not carry British Sign Language interpretation via the BBC, a British Sign Language interpretation is uploaded on YouTube as soon as possible after the event.
The first Government BSL report was published in July 2023, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-british-sign-language-bsl-report-2022/the-british-sign-language-bsl-report-2022
The Government will be publishing a second report on the use of BSL in government communications by 31 July 2024.
No. 10 is an operational part of the Cabinet Office, which is a relevant government department under Section 2 of the Act.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many of the Prime Minister’s office's (a) press conferences, (b) social media posts and (c) webpages have been accessible to British Sign Language users since 25 October 2022.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
We are committed to ensuring that government communications are available and accessible across multiple channels and in a number of alternative formats in order to meet a range of needs.
British Sign Language interpretation is provided for the vast majority of No.10 press conferences via the BBC News channel (available on Freeview) and iPlayer through the BBC. For No.10 press conferences that do not carry British Sign Language interpretation via the BBC, a British Sign Language interpretation is uploaded on YouTube as soon as possible after the event.
The first Government BSL report was published in July 2023, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-british-sign-language-bsl-report-2022/the-british-sign-language-bsl-report-2022
The Government will be publishing a second report on the use of BSL in government communications by 31 July 2024.
No. 10 is an operational part of the Cabinet Office, which is a relevant government department under Section 2 of the Act.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many disabled (a) women and (b) men have been victims of domestic abuse in each of the last five years for which data are available.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 1 September is attached.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer 23 June 2023 to Question 189783 on Cabinet: Disability, if he will provide further information on the status of commitments that have been (a) paused, (b) partially implemented and (c) not implemented.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In my previous answer on 23 June 2023 to Question 189783, I indicated which of the 19 Cabinet Office commitments set out in Part 3 of the National Disability Strategy were paused, partially implemented or not implemented.
We are fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this we will be providing details of the Government’s recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.
Ahead of this the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work has placed a list of these achievements in the House Library.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, which of his Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon lady to my answer 189783 on 23rd June 2023.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of people employed by the Disability Unit have recorded that they have a disability.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Disability Unit was established in November 2019, when a Machinery of Government Change transferred officials from the former Office for Disability Issues (ODI) to the Cabinet Office from the Department for Work and Pensions to form the Disability Unit.
| 31/01/2020* | 31/12/2020 | 31/12/2021 | 31/12/2022 |
Total | 16 | 18 | 28 | 25 |
*Data was not held on our systems in December 2019
Of those that declared their disability status:
| 31/01/2020 | 31/12/2020 | 31/12/2021 | 31/12/2022 |
Percentage yes | 50% | 38% | 44% | 50% |
Percentages exclude those who did not declare their disability status or who declared that they would prefer not to say.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have been employed in the Disability Unit in each year since its creation.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Disability Unit was established in November 2019, when a Machinery of Government Change transferred officials from the former Office for Disability Issues (ODI) to the Cabinet Office from the Department for Work and Pensions to form the Disability Unit.
| 31/01/2020* | 31/12/2020 | 31/12/2021 | 31/12/2022 |
Total | 16 | 18 | 28 | 25 |
*Data was not held on our systems in December 2019
Of those that declared their disability status:
| 31/01/2020 | 31/12/2020 | 31/12/2021 | 31/12/2022 |
Percentage yes | 50% | 38% | 44% | 50% |
Percentages exclude those who did not declare their disability status or who declared that they would prefer not to say.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has a Ministerial disability champion.
Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
I (The Rt Hon. Johnny Mercer MP) was appointed as the Ministerial Disability Champion for the Cabinet Office.
I look forward to working with the other Ministerial Disability Champions appointed in each Government Department to represent the interests of disabled people and drive forward progress on disability policy across government.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to review the COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19 plan.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The Cabinet Office “COVID-19 Response; Living with COVID-19” publication in February 2022 set out how England would move into a new phase of managing COVID-19. The Cabinet Office has no plans at present to review the strategy.
The UK Health Security Agency publishes a number of guidance documents in relation to living safely with respiratory infections, including COVID-19. All guidance is kept under review to ensure our response remains effective.