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993612

registered interest
date	23/10/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2018 to Question 165609 on Employment: disability, when the research will be published; and whether that research will consider actual employment outcomes for disabled people as a target and reference point for the success of Disability Confident.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	182830
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2018 answer text <p>As stated in the Answer of 23 July 2018 to Question 165609, we have commissioned external research which explores whether employers who sign up to the Disability Confident scheme change their attitudes and behaviours in relation to disability employment, including whether they report increases in their employment of disabled people as a result of signing up.</p><p> </p><p>We expect to publish results from this research later this year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 30/10/2018 17:19:23 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

986422

registered interest
date	12/10/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to increase the number of employers that sign up to the disability confident scheme.
tabling member constituency	Southend West
tabling member printed	Sir David Amess
uin	178456
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2018 answer text <p>Staff in the DWP Disability Confident team are working constantly to engage with employers, run events and support the scheme. We have recently been working with Jobcentre Plus districts in Devon &amp; Cornwall and South Yorkshire to identify new opportunities to engage with employers. The learning from this is currently being shared across Jobcentre Plus and should lead to a significant increase in employer sign-ups. Over 8,300 organisations are currently signed up to Disability Confident and this number continues to grow substantially.</p><p> </p><p>The Disability Confident Business Leaders Group (BLG), comprising senior leaders from significant British businesses across all sectors, helps to increase engagement with employers and encourage and support them on their Disability Confident journeys. The group promotes the business benefits of disability employment and works with DWP officials to identify any changes or developments that will improve the effectiveness of the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>In the public sector, with all main Government departments now signed up as Disability Confident Leaders we are turning focus on Local Authorities, Police, Fire Authorities and NHS Trusts. 75% of Local Authorities are already Disability Confident.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 22/10/2018 16:41:39 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	44 label Biography information for Sir David Amess

986424

registered interest
date	12/10/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what budget her Department allocated to the disability confident scheme in the last year for which figures are available.
tabling member constituency	Southend West
tabling member printed	Sir David Amess
uin	178457
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2018 answer text <p>The DC scheme is delivered internally by DWP, using DWP staff and other internal resources. There is no external resources budget set for it.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 22/10/2018 16:06:16 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	44 label Biography information for Sir David Amess

983180

registered interest
date	08/10/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support people to (a) disclose a disability and (b) ask for reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	176353
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/10/2018 answer text <p>The Equality Act 2010 legally protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society and requires employers to make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions aren’t substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Disability Confident emphasises to employers the importance of implementing reasonable adjustments and signposts them to further sources of information and guidance. By providing guidance, best practice advice and access to case studies, DC helps to support managers and HR professionals to build a positive culture. This means that managers and disabled staff can have productive conversations in the workplace, creating the right environment for people to share their disability at work.</p><p> </p><p>Access to Work is a demand-led scheme that provides support for disabled workers over and above the level of reasonable adjustments, up to a maximum of £57,200 per year per person. Access to Work provision was approved for 25,020 individuals in 2016/17 – an 8% increase on 2015/16, at a cost of £104m.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, we are working with Council for Work and Health to develop Reasonable Adjustments Clinical Guidance in relation to 5 conditions which commonly lead to absence from work. We expect the guidance to be published in 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, we are working with partners including employers, to establish a voluntary reporting framework on disability and mental health for large employers. In the supporting guidance we will provide advice on disclosure issues.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 17/10/2018 15:43:01 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

969098

registered interest
date	06/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of the disability employment gap; and what information her Department holds on the disability employment gap by (a) condition and (b) type of disability.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	171400
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>Evidence shows that the disability employment gap is narrowing, although we are determined to see further improvements, so that everyone who can work is given the right support and opportunities to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 shows the gap in employment rates between working age disabled and non-disabled people, based on the estimates published by ONS on the website at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08" target="_blank">https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusofdisabledpeoplea08</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Employment rates for disabled and non-disabled people aged 16-64, Q2 2013 – Q2 2017</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p><strong>Disabled employment rate (%)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Non-disabled employment rate (%)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Gap<br> (percentage points)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>43.6</p></td><td><p>76.8</p></td><td><p>33.1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>44.9</p></td><td><p>78.4</p></td><td><p>33.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>45.9</p></td><td><p>79.2</p></td><td><p>33.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>47.9</p></td><td><p>80.1</p></td><td><p>32.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>49.2</p></td><td><p>80.6</p></td><td><p>31.3</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em> </em></p><p><em>Source: Labour Force Survey </em></p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>Estimates relate to quarter 2 (April-June) each year.</li><li>Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1 percentage point. Components may not sum exactly to totals due to rounding.</li><li>Estimates exclude a small number of respondents who did not report whether or not they were disabled.</li><li>Data is subject to sampling variation and is not seasonally adjusted.</li><li>Due to an apparent discontinuity, ONS has applied health warnings to estimates for periods after Q2 (April to June) 2017. We are awaiting further advice from ONS on how these more recent figures can be used in future.</li></ol><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Table 2 shows how employment rates for disabled people with different health conditions or broad types of disability compare to that of non-disabled people.</p><p> </p><p>Table 2: Employment rate of disabled people by health condition, <em>Q2 (April to June) 2017</em></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>Disabled employment rate (%)</p></td><td><p>Total number of people <br> (thousands)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with arms or hands</p></td><td><p>53.7</p></td><td><p>458</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with legs or feet</p></td><td><p>56.5</p></td><td><p>765</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with back or neck</p></td><td><p>56.4</p></td><td><p>1,036</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Difficulty in seeing</p></td><td><p>54.9</p></td><td><p>85</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Difficulty in hearing</p></td><td><p>62.3</p></td><td><p>65</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Speech impediment</p></td><td><p>-</p></td><td><p>-</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Severe disfigurements, skin conditions, allergies</p></td><td><p>64.0</p></td><td><p>82</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Chest or breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis</p></td><td><p>54.4</p></td><td><p>433</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Heart, blood pressure or blood circulation problems</p></td><td><p>49.1</p></td><td><p>412</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stomach, liver kidney or digestive problems</p></td><td><p>60.3</p></td><td><p>361</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Diabetes</p></td><td><p>55.0</p></td><td><p>259</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Depression, bad nerves or anxiety</p></td><td><p>46.3</p></td><td><p>1,068</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Epilepsy</p></td><td><p>28.0</p></td><td><p>92</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Severe or specific learning difficulties (mental handicap)</p></td><td><p>16.8</p></td><td><p>184</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mental illness, or suffer from phobia, panics or other nervous disorders</p></td><td><p>27.1</p></td><td><p>476</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Progressive illness not included elsewhere (e.g. cancer, multiple sclerosis, symptomatic HIV, Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophy)</p></td><td><p>37.7</p></td><td><p>416</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other health problems or disabilities</p></td><td><p>52.5</p></td><td><p>810</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Any mental health main condition</p></td><td><p>40.3</p></td><td><p>1,544</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Any musculoskeletal main condition</p></td><td><p>55.9</p></td><td><p>2,259</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Any mental health main condition or musculoskeletal main condition</p></td><td><p>49.6</p></td><td><p>3,803</p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total disabled</p></td><td><p>49.2</p></td><td><p>7,097</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total non-disabled</p></td><td><p>80.6</p></td><td><p>33,792</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><em> </em></p><p><em>Source: Labour Force Survey </em></p><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1 percentage point. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000.</li><li>Data is subject to sampling variation and is not seasonally adjusted.</li><li>Precision of statistics is limited by small sample sizes. Estimates based on fewer than 10,000 people (weighted) are not shown and are denoted ‘-‘.</li><li>The total for all disabled people is slightly higher than the sum of the number of health conditions due to some respondents not reporting their specific health condition(s).</li><li>Those with any mental health condition are considered to be those who reported having 'depression, bad nerves or anxiety' or 'mental illness, or suffer phobia, panics, or other nervous disorders'.</li><li>Those with any musculoskeletal condition are considered to be those who reported having 'problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with arms or hands', 'problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with back or neck' or 'problems or disabilities (including arthritis or rheumatism) connected with legs or feet'.</li></ol> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 11/09/2018 16:23:56 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

969102

registered interest
date	06/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to encourage (a) large employers and (b) SME employers to recruit disabled employees.
tabling member constituency	Witham
tabling member printed	Priti Patel
uin	171403
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/09/2018 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting disabled people to reach their potential. We are engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme, which was developed by disabled people, employers and disability organisations to encourage employers to think differently about disability and to take action to improve how they attract, recruit and develop disabled employees.</p><p> </p><p>The Disability Confident Business Leaders Group (BLG), comprising senior leaders from significant British businesses across all sectors, is helping to increase engagement with employers. The group promotes the business benefits of disability employment and works with DWP officials to identify any changes or developments that will improve the effectiveness of the scheme.</p><p> </p><p>DWP is working with a range of stakeholders, including members of the Business Leaders Group and Professional Advisers Group, to drive sign-up to Disability Confident. Through employer-focused events, we are targeting employers of all size and sector and are working with MPs in their constituencies to encourage local community sign-up. We are also working with MPs around the country to arrange local events to get them as employers, and businesses in their constituencies, signed up.</p><p> </p><p>Over 7,500 employers are currently signed up to Disability Confident, of whom over 2,000 are large employers and 5,500 are SMEs.</p><p> </p><p>Over 2,800 employers have completed their self-assessment to become Disability Confident Employers (Level 2). These include organisations ranging in size from large multi nationals to local employers, including private businesses, colleges, sports clubs, NHS trusts and social enterprises. All main government Departments are at Level 3 (Disability Confident Leader) and over 80% of Local Authorities are Disability Confident.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the department has instigated a requirement that all contractors for major contracts (exceeding £10 million in value) must have achieved Disability Confident Leader Status. DWP will work with its other suppliers to encourage them to become Disability Confident.</p><p> </p><p>Crown Commercial Services are developing a Public Procurement Notice on disability and employment. This will provide guidance on the work and health agenda, on the Stevenson/Farmer Core and Enhanced Standards on mental health, and it will identify how to encourage suppliers to sign up to Disability Confident.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 12/09/2018 16:20:44 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton previous answer version 75162 answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel

964749

registered interest
date	03/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis has his Department has conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of the European Social Fund in supporting disabled people into work.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	169392
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>DWP is committed to evaluating the impact of the European Social Fund (ESF) 2014-2020 programme in England. Evaluating ESF is also a requirement of the European Commission. A key aim of the evaluation will be to assess the impact and effectiveness of ESF on the employability and employment outcomes of ESF participants who are furthest from the labour market, including disabled people and other groups that face disadvantage in the labour market. In July 2018 DWP published a scoping study* which set out how we plan to do this. As part of our evaluation we are also running a survey of ESF leavers, to capture their experiences and outcomes of the support they have received. The evaluation is planned for 2019 and we will publish the full results on GOV.UK in 2020.</p><p> </p><p>ESF is a devolved matter for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>* See <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-social-fund-impact-evaluation-research-design-and-scoping-study" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-social-fund-impact-evaluation-research-design-and-scoping-study</a></p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/09/2018 14:07:55 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

964750

registered interest
date	03/09/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent meetings (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have held with organisations that deliver disability employment projects funded by the European Social Fund.
tabling member constituency	Bermondsey and Old Southwark
tabling member printed	Neil Coyle
uin	169393
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2018 answer text <p>The European Social Fund (ESF) 2014-2020 Programme naturally supports the disability employment demographic. From the DWP ministerial team, Sarah Newton, Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, has had several meetings with Work and Health Programme providers during Summer recess, and these providers have secured ESF funding for different employment programmes.</p><p> </p><p>Both the ESF England Managing Authority and DWP Co-financing Organisation (CFO) are situated within DWP. DWP CFO holds regular meetings with its suppliers delivering contracts for DWP ESF funded provision as part of performance management activities. They also meet with key stakeholders involved in the provision.</p><p> </p><p>ESF is a devolved matter for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 11/09/2018 14:00:23 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	4368 label Biography information for Neil Coyle

945558

registered interest
date	20/07/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress has been made in supporting people with disabilities into work since May 2015.
tabling member constituency	Gloucester
tabling member printed	Richard Graham
uin	166484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/07/2018 answer text <p>This Government is committed to supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to reach their potential. Since 2015 there has been a steady increase in the number of disabled people in work. From April-June 2015 to April-June 2017 (the latest period for which the Office for National Statistics has published estimates without ‘health warnings’), the number of disabled people in work increased by 235,000 from 3.3 million to 3.5 million. The disability employment rate in this period increased by 3.3 percentage points, from 45.9% to 49.2%.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit helps people with a disability or health condition who are already in work, to remain and progress in work. It is specifically designed so that we can engage with and support people early in and throughout their claim, to give them advice and support – and not to lose contact with them. All work coaches delivering Universal Credit will receive training on supporting claimants with health conditions.</p><p> </p><p>On 30 November 2017, we published ‘Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability’, which sets out actions we’re taking in the welfare system, in the workplace and in health services to realise our commitment to see one million more disabled people in work by 2027.</p><p> </p><p>Our programme is supported by a wide range of ‘test and learn’ activity designed to build the evidence about what works to support disabled people and those with health conditions to get into and stay in work. Projects worth up to around £1 billion have been launched, including:</p><ul><li>up to £500m of investment in the new Work and Health Programme, which we expect to help around 275,000 people over five years, with the majority (around 220,000) being disabled people;</li><li>our Personal Support Package, including the investment of £330m for those on the UC/ESA health journey, delivering a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support tailored to the individual needs of claimants;</li><li>health-led trials in Sheffield City Region and the West Midlands Combined Authority, which build on the internationally-recognised Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach to provide employment support in a health setting for people with mild-to-moderate mental and physical health conditions;</li><li>more than doubling the number of Employment Advisers in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services, providing support to adults with depression and a range of anxiety disorders through integrated employment advice and psychological treatment;</li><li>recruiting 300 additional Disability Employment Advisers, and introducing 200 new Community Partners to bring more specialist advice and support into the Jobcentre; and</li><li>supporting Greater Manchester and the Scottish Government with early intervention initiatives that make it easier and quicker for people to access the right support through a needs assessment, and rapid access to interventions such as occupational health support, mental health and musculoskeletal treatment, and job brokerage.</li></ul><p> </p><p>We have also recently introduced the new Tech Fund in Access to Work, offering employers significant support with the cost of assistive technology; and we’re continuing to build our engagement with employers through Disability Confident, which is growing strongly and now has over 6,800 employers signed up.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 30/07/2018 09:39:14 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	3990 label Biography information for Richard Graham

943965

registered interest
date	18/07/2018
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2018 to Questions 161189, 161190 and 161191 on employment: disability, how her Department is evaluating the success of the Disability Confident scheme if job outcomes attributable to the scheme are not recorded.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	165609
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2018 answer text <p>We have commissioned external research which will assess the extent to which employers who sign up to Disability Confident scheme change their attitudes and behaviours in relation to disability employment, including offering more employment opportunities, supporting existing employees who have or acquire disabilities, changing recruitment practices to encourage more disabled applicants and making workplace adjustments to retain existing employees. We expect to publish results from this research later this year.</p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 23/07/2018 16:59:10 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron