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1646487

registered interest
date	21/06/2023
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2022 to Question 102720 on Armed Forces: Disability, what progress his Department has made towards meeting its target of bringing 15.3 per cent more disabled people into the civilian workforce by 2030.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	190713
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2023 answer text <p>One of the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s commitments in the National Disability Strategy is to publish a plan to increase the disabled civilian workforce to 15.3% by 2030. Implementation of this plan is currently ongoing. <br> <br> As of 1 April 2023, 11.9% of MOD main civilian personnel have declared a disability, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared with 1 April 2022. Meanwhile, we continue our work as a Disability Confident Leader, ensuring our disabled colleagues are valued and supported, and that workplace adjustments are made in a timely manner.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 27/06/2023 12:24:15 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1645032

registered interest
date	15/06/2023
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, 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.
tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
uin	189789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2023 answer text <p>In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Defence (MOD) had five commitments included in the National Disability Strategy. These included:</p><p>1. By September 2021, the MOD will publish a plan to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce to meet its target of 15.3% by 2030</p><p>2. MOD will explore how to increase opportunities for disabled people to serve as part of the Armed Forces reserves by the end of 2023, including:</p><p>- promoting better use of disabled reservists for appropriate roles across the Armed Forces</p><p>- guaranteeing interviews for disabled reservists who meet the minimum requirements when recruiting for those roles</p><p>3. By 2025, MOD will deliver the Armed Forces Recruiting Programme to recruit more diverse military personnel, including disabled people</p><p>4. We will experiment with the recruitment of more diverse military personnel into the new National Cyber Force, using it as a pathfinder for increased inclusivity</p><p>5. The Office for Veterans’ Affairs will share best practice and insight from the veterans’ adaptive sport community with disability organisations and providers of sport and activity by March 2022</p><p>Commitment 1, to publish a plan to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce has been partly implemented. A plan is in development and a number of relevant activities have so far been identified and are progressing. We continue to monitor the effects of the actions, which will make Defence a more attractive, diverse and inclusive employer.</p><p> </p><p>Commitment 2, to explore how to increase opportunities for disabled people to join Defence, has not been implemented. Defence wishes to minimise the risk of acting inconsistently with the Court’s declaration, without compromising on the ambitious agenda we are delivering for disabled people. As such, we are disappointed to have had to pause the work on guaranteed interviews for disabled reservists. However, this does not prevent disabled people who meet the minimum requirements from applying to be a reservist. Our intent remains to contribute to the wider commitment of creating more opportunities for disabled people to participate and thrive across the whole Force, not just as reservists; to protect and promote the rights of disabled people; and to tackle the barriers that prevent disabled people from fully benefiting from, and contributing fully to, every aspect of our society.</p><p> </p><p>Commitment 3, to deliver the Armed Forces Recruiting Programme (AFRP) to recruit more diverse military personnel, is in the process of being implemented. The AFRP is responsible for the delivery of a new single, tri-Service, Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS). A key requirement of the future solution is placing candidates at the heart of the Armed Forces recruiting experience, keeping them inspired and motivated whilst recruiting from the broadest spectrum of society to improve diversity and representation. A key tenet of the Programme is to establish an agile and flexible approach to meet the demand of the Armed Forces across roles and people requirements. The Armed Forces demand requirement is updated annually and will be delivered through the supplier and the AFRS working collaboratively. It will be fully implemented in 2027.</p><p> </p><p>Commitment 4, to use the National Cyber Force as a pathfinder for inclusivity, has been fully implemented. In 2021, the MOD announced a Cyber Pathfinder Scheme to increase inclusion in Defence. This is now open and trains and assesses military personnel joining the National Cyber Force.</p><p> </p><p>Commitment 5, to share best practice and insight from the veterans’ adaptive sport community with disability organisations and providers of sport and activity, was fully implemented <ins class="ministerial">in March 2022.</ins> <del class="ministerial">before the High Court's judgement on the NDS was delivered.</del></p><p>We remain 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, the MOD will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.</p><p> </p><p>Ahead of this, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 22/06/2023 13:36:48 question first ministerially corrected 06/09/2023 15:46:16 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison previous answer version 83167 answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1609367

registered interest
date	30/03/2023
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	177869
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/04/2023 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes biannual diversity statistics on its civilian staff excluding those employed by organisations with delegated personnel functions (Trading funds, DE&amp;S Bespoke Trading Entity, Executive Agencies, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Locally engaged civilians (LECs)). The most recent statistics were published in December 2022 at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-diversity-dashboard-october-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-diversity-dashboard-october-2022</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Table 6 - Disability Representation of MOD Main Civilian Personnel shows that as at 1 October 2022, 11.5% of MOD Main civilian personnel had an active declaration of disabled.</p><p> </p><p>The MOD D&amp;I Strategy 2018-30 for its civilian workforce has specific measurable and achievable aims to increase representation of staff with a disability across the department, including the Senior Civil Service. The MOD is an accredited ‘Disability Confident Scheme Leader’ and encourages candidates with disabilities to apply to Defence.</p><p> </p><p>The MOD has several initiatives to support disabled personnel across the whole of Defence, including the Defence and civilian networks and champions. The Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Service is well established, offering specialist advice and access to a review route for disabled employees experiencing difficulties in securing the adjustments they need. The service includes a Workplace Adjustment Passport to facilitate the seamless retention of adjustments on a change of line manager, job role or move between business areas.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 17/04/2023 14:59:02 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1599504

registered interest
date	27/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has a ministerial disability champion.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	153890
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2023 answer text <p>I was appointed as the Ministerial Disability Champion for the Ministry of Defence in February 2023.</p><p> </p><p>I will work 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.</p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison question first answered 06/03/2023 13:18:31 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1588611

registered interest
date	23/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps they have taken in their Department to operate the Disability Confident employer scheme for those seeking a lateral transfer; and how many and what proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under that scheme where (a) interviewed and (b) laterally transferred in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	151325
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2023 answer text <p>The Disability Confident scheme was formally launched by the Department for Work and Pensions in November 2016. It is designed to give employers the skills, techniques and confidence they need to recruit, retain and develop disabled staff.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme has three levels. To reach Level Three, Disability Confident Leader, an employer must run through a self-assessment of their disabled employment policies and practices, put this self-assessment up for external validation, produce a plan for encouraging and supporting other employers to become Disability Confident, and undertake to use the Voluntary Reporting framework to publicly report on how they support their disabled staff. All of the main Government Departments are now signed up as Disability Confident Leaders including the Ministry of Defence (MOD).</p><p> </p><p>The data regarding the proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied to MOD under the scheme who were promoted or laterally transferred could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The table below details the number of staff invited to interview who declared themselves as having a disability and also applied under the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). Only internal applicants have been included as they are the only staff who can be promoted or laterally transferred.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Area interviewed</p></td><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total (%)</p></td><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>MOD (including SDA and DE&amp;S)</p></td><td><p>433</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>439</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes / Caveats -</strong></p><ul><li>All data is taken from the feed from the recruitment systems used between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2022. The data will only include MOD applications that took place on recruitment systems between these dates.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison grouped question UIN 150538 question first answered 28/02/2023 11:48:41 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1588200

registered interest
date	22/02/2023
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps they have taken to operate a disability confident scheme for those seeking promotion in their Department; and how many and what proportion of those candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied under the scheme were (a) interviewed and (b) promoted in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	150538
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2023 answer text <p>The Disability Confident scheme was formally launched by the Department for Work and Pensions in November 2016. It is designed to give employers the skills, techniques and confidence they need to recruit, retain and develop disabled staff.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme has three levels. To reach Level Three, Disability Confident Leader, an employer must run through a self-assessment of their disabled employment policies and practices, put this self-assessment up for external validation, produce a plan for encouraging and supporting other employers to become Disability Confident, and undertake to use the Voluntary Reporting framework to publicly report on how they support their disabled staff. All of the main Government Departments are now signed up as Disability Confident Leaders including the Ministry of Defence (MOD).</p><p> </p><p>The data regarding the proportion of candidates who declared themselves as having a disability and who applied to MOD under the scheme who were promoted or laterally transferred could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The table below details the number of staff invited to interview who declared themselves as having a disability and also applied under the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). Only internal applicants have been included as they are the only staff who can be promoted or laterally transferred.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Area interviewed</p></td><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total (%)</p></td><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>Percentage of total (%)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>MOD (including SDA and DE&amp;S)</p></td><td><p>433</p></td><td><p>26</p></td><td><p>439</p></td><td><p>27</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Notes / Caveats -</strong></p><ul><li>All data is taken from the feed from the recruitment systems used between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2022. The data will only include MOD applications that took place on recruitment systems between these dates.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Wiltshire answering member printed Dr Andrew Murrison grouped question UIN 151325 question first answered 28/02/2023 11:48:41 answering member 1466 label Biography information for Dr Andrew Murrison
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1418619

registered interest
date	01/02/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published July 2021, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) encourage and support workplace disability networks, (b) achieve and maintain the highest level of Disability Confident accreditation, (c) ensure responsive and timely support to meet workplace adjustment needs and (d) develop and embed flexible working.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	115968
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2022 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has an active disability network which is open to staff, both military and civilian, to join and runs several events throughout the year.</p><p>Under the Government's Disability Confident scheme, MOD has been an accredited 'Disability Confident Leader' at level 3 (the highest level) since September 2017. This was renewed in March 2021. Our aims are that staff with disabilities should feel valued and supported, that managers should have access to consistent advice and expertise, and that reasonable adjustments will be made in a timely manner. As a Disability Confident Employer, we benefit from being able to draw from the widest possible pool of talent, secure, retain, and develop staff with disabilities who are skilled, loyal, and hard-working.</p><p>All staff are entitled to request reasonable adjustments in their workplace and the Department strives to ensure these are assessed, administered, and delivered as quickly and efficiently as possible.</p><p>Defence's approach to flexible (including hybrid) working is set out in our Future Workplace Strategy. We have revised our Flexible Working policy to reflect these changes and engaged with the MOD Disability Network to ensure that the needs of employees with disabilities were met. Our policies support employees, including these with disabilities to work flexibly using a range of working patterns/schedules to help them to meet personal and work commitments. Employees with disabilities can also access appropriate equipment and technology to enable them to carry out their role.</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 07/02/2022 11:57:54 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

1402445

registered interest
date	12/01/2022
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, what plans his Department has published to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce to meet its target of 15.3 per cent by 2030; and what progress has been made towards that target as of 12 January 2022.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	102720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2022 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to creating the best possible working environment for, and maximising the potential of, all our people. Defence has made commitments to the new Government wide Disability Strategy and have been developing new working models and policies to create a better working environment for Defence people that require assistance. As part of the National Disability Strategy, the MOD committed to publishing a plan to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce and achieve our 15.3% target. We had hoped to have this in place by September 2021, as stated in the Strategy, but this has not proved possible, and we aim to do so as soon as practicable. The most recent available statistics show that, as of 1 April 2021, the Defence civilian disability representation rate was 11.9%.</p> answering member constituency Aldershot answering member printed Leo Docherty question first answered 19/01/2022 13:57:40 answering member 4600 label Biography information for Leo Docherty
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

931819

registered interest
date	27/06/2018
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people employed by his Department have a declared disability.
tabling member constituency	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
tabling member printed	Jamie Stone
uin	158321
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2018 answer text <p>As at April 2018, 2,560 civilians employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) had declared a disability.</p><p>Further information on diversity within the Department, including the number of civilians who have a declared disability, can be found in the MOD Diversity Dashboard 2018 publication, on the Gov.UK website at the link below:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mod-diversity-dashboard-index</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 04/07/2018 15:41:44 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	4612 label Biography information for Jamie Stone