Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of polling data on 11 April by Christians Against Poverty, Employment and financial difficulty, what steps they are taking to address the impact of rising costs of essentials on working households.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This government is committed to tackling poverty and supporting people into good work will be the foundation of our approach. We are committed to creating a more equal society and supporting economic growth. Talent is widely distributed, and opportunity is not. We are tackling this through our Growth and Opportunity Missions and our £240 million Get Britan Working package to improve support for people who are economically inactive, unemployed or want to develop their careers. The Get Britain Working White Paper sets out details of reforms to employment support to create an inclusive labour market in which everybody, regardless of their background, can participate and progress in work. Further measures addressing inequality are included within the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and the Employment Rights Bill.
Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce is continuing its urgent work and is exploring all available levers, including considering social security reforms, to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. Tackling poverty means helping those that need help most and these are often those with protected characteristics. In developing individual policies that contribute to the Strategy, departments do have regard to equalities impacts.
Our plan to Make Work Pay, including increases to the National Living Wage benefiting over three million workers, will help more people stay in work, make work more secure and family-friendly, and put more money in working people's pockets. Women, younger and older workers, workers with a disability, and workers from ethnic minority backgrounds are expected to benefit the most from the April 2025 increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.
The Fair Repayment Rate will mean more than a million households retain more of their award to meet essential living costs. We will also improve the adequacy of the standard allowance with the first sustained above inflation rise in the basic rate of Universal Credit since it was introduced. This increase, announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, will be for new and existing customers and will benefit millions of people.
To further support struggling households, we have provided funding of £742 million to extend the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in England, plus additional funding for the Devolved Governments.
Asked by: Baroness Hollins (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are considering taking to improve healthcare provision and accessibility for individuals with Down Syndrome.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for people with Down syndrome.
Through implementation of the Down Syndrome Act 2022, we will improve the lives of people with Down syndrome by improving their access to services, including health and care services. NHS England has published statutory guidance requiring every integrated care board (ICB) to identify a member of its board to lead on supporting the ICB to perform its functions effectively in the interest of people with Down syndrome.
Under the Down Syndrome Act, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is required to give guidance to the relevant authorities in health, social care, education, and housing services on what they should be doing to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome.
The guidance will raise awareness of the specific needs of people with Down syndrome and bring together in one place everything that the relevant authorities should already be doing to support people with Down syndrome. A working draft of the Down syndrome statutory guidance was shared with sector partners in December 2024. Officials have been working through the feedback received and have engaged all relevant Government departments to produce a second draft of the guidance. The Minister of State for Care wrote to sector partners with an update in March 2025. We intend to publish the draft guidance for consultation by the summer, including easy read versions.
Beyond the Down syndrome guidance, under the Equality Act 2010 health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Business Disability Forum has shared with Ministers or officials the research informing the Forum's decision to oppose the introduction of mandatory employment and pay gap reporting, and whether they will place a copy of any such research in the Library of the House.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government welcomes views from disabled people, businesses and their representative organisations on our proposals for disability pay gap reporting to help make sure they work for everyone. Being open to a wide range of views, experiences and concerns will support a more successful implementation of disability pay gap reporting.
Research conducted by the Business Disability Forum with their members has been shared with policy officials, as has other relevant research such as the Institute of Directors’ report Progress through transparency: the case for mandatory disability employment and pay gap reporting.
Since both reports mentioned are publicly available and can be found online at their respective organisations’ websites, we do not plan to place them in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment each government body or department has made of the value for money of the subscription fees paid to the Business Disability Forum for (1) membership or (2) partnership, and what criteria were used for each assessment.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
This information is not held centrally. Government departments are responsible for decisions about whether to buy services from third sector organisations to support equality, diversity and inclusion in their organisations.
Cabinet Office procured the Business Disability Forum subscriptions as a partner following a review of market options. This included looking at both the technical offering and price. Any future subscriptions will be subject to updated market analysis and value for money considerations.
The Business Disability Forum (BDF) provides support and guidance to the Cabinet Office on accessibility and disability-related issues, including reviews of procedures and policies, guidance on accessible training materials, and training for staff.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much each government department or body that is (1) a member, or (2) a partner, of the Business Disability Forum has paid in subscription fees in each year of its membership or partnership.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office is a partner of the Business Disability Forum and has been a member since 2020. The Cabinet Office paid £26,400 for 2024/25. The annual cost varies each year.
Information on which Government Departments and bodies are members and the subscription fees paid is not held centrally.
The Business Disability Forum (BDF) provides support and guidance to the Cabinet Office on accessibility and disability-related issues, including reviews of procedures and policies, guidance on accessible training materials, and training for staff.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government which government departments and bodies are (1) members, and (2) partners, of the Business Disability Forum.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office is a partner of the Business Disability Forum. Information on which other government departments and bodies are members or partners is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government which ministers have met representatives of the Business Disability Forum, whom they met, and on what dates since July 2024; and on which government bodies and advisory groups the Business Disability Forum is represented, and by whom.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Minister for Social Security and Disability, Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP, met with the Business Disability Forum’s Director of Policy and Research, Angela Matthews and Director of Operations, Adrian Ward, at a roundtable event hosted by Scope on 11 September 2024. He has also met with Business Disability Forum’s CEO Diane Lightwood on multiple occasions: an introductory meeting with Disability Charities Consortium co-chairs on 17 July 2024, at the Labour Party Conference on 24 September 2024, a meeting about Disability Confident Business Leaders Group at Caxton House on 28 October 2024, Disability Charities Consortium meetings on 11 December 2024 & 12 March 2025 and the Disability Confident Business Leaders Group meeting on 4 December 2024.
The Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern MP, met Business Disability Forum’s CEO Diane Lightfoot at the introductory meeting with Disability Charities Consortium co-chairs on 5 September 2024 and at the Disability Charities Consortium meetings on 11 December 2024 and 12 March 2025. The Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports, Gareth Thomas MP, has met Business Disability Forum’s CEO Diane Lightfoot at a meeting of the Lilac Review Steering Board on 17 September 2024.
The Prime Minister met CEO Diane Lightfoot at a large reception at 10 Downing Street to celebrate Small Business Saturday on 3 December 2024. CEO Diane Lightfoot and Director of Policy and Research Angela Matthews have also been on group calls and roundtables with Ministers alongside multiple other stakeholders, for example on the recent NHS Ten Year Plan roundtable.
The Government bodies, advisory and representative groups where Business Disability Forum is represented are the Lilac Review Steering Board (Diane Lightfoot), the Disability Confident Business Leaders Group (Diane Lightfoot), Disability Charities Consortium (Diane Lightfoot & Angela Matthews), Access to Work Expert Reference Group (Diane Lightfoot & Angela Matthews), the Office for National Statistics Assembly (Angela Matthews) and the Work and Health External Advisory Group (Diane Lightfoot & Angela Matthews).
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department has issued to the Government Property Agency on ensuring that accessible signs with (a) braille and (b) tactile symbols are available in all Government buildings.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the GPA’s Government Workplace Design Guide and Inclusive Design Standards, we are committed to improving the standard of inclusive and accessible signage across our estate including the quality and availability of braille and tactile symbols. Our Inclusive Design Standards state signs should be clear, use simple and concise text, and include raised text, braille, and raised pictograms when appropriate.
Asked by: Jessica Morden (Labour - Newport East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making care experience a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The Equality Act 2010 already protects many care leavers under the indirect discrimination provisions, because a disproportionately high number are likely to be from particular sub groups within characteristics such as race, disability and age.
This Government is delivering for care leavers; younger care leavers will be exempt from rules which require a connection to a local area before accessing social housing. We have also established a care leaver Ministerial Board, which brings together Ministers from key Departments, to improve support for care leavers across Government.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Independent review of children's social care: final report, published on 23 May 2022, whether she plans to implement the recommendation on care experience and caring as protected characteristics.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
We know care leavers have some of the worst long-term life outcomes in society. We are therefore committed to ensuring children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training. Through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill we will be driving forward our commitments on children’s social care, including improved support for care leavers.
As announced by the Prime Minister on 24 September 2024, care leavers under age 25 will be exempt from rules which require a connection to a local area before accessing social housing. We have also established a care leaver Ministerial Board, which brings together Ministers from key Departments, to improve support for care leavers across Government.
On the specific question of protected characteristics, the Government often receives requests for new characteristics such as "carer experience"” to be added to the Equality Act 2010. While many of these carry merit, it would not be practical to legislate because of the public and private sector burdens that this would create. The Equality Act 2010 will already protect many care leavers under the indirect discrimination provisions, because a disproportionately high number are likely to be from an ethnic minority and/ or have a disability. They may also benefit from the age discrimination protections in the Act.