As of January 2023, of the 74.2% of staff working in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) who have completed their disability declaration information, 9.2% shared they had a disability. 4.9% of those who have declared their information have reported they \u2018prefer not to say\u2019. This data is completed anonymously by employees via our online HR system (SOP).<\/p>
<\/p>
The Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022 maintains our focus on mainstreaming the delivery of inclusion and achieving our key priorities as outlined in the Declaration on Government Reform. We will continue to build a more inclusive Civil Service going further than the current Equality Act provisions by building on and expanding a previous focus on Protected Characteristics to deliver for all of our people. Incorporating a broader definition of diversity (such as socioeconomic, work experience and geographic backgrounds) and embedding activity in our strategic priorities will enable the successful delivery of our corporate objectives. Disability remains a focus of this work and we continue to identify and remove barriers affecting disabled colleagues.<\/p>
<\/p>
Representation of disabled staff is increasing at all grades, whilst this trend is positive, we remain committed to improving the representation of disabled colleagues across our workforce and in particular at our most senior grades.<\/p>
<\/p>
All main Government departments have Disability Confident Leader (level 3) status on the Government\u2019s Disability Confident Scheme, the highest level of accreditation. The scheme gives employers the tools to recruit, retain and develop disabled people, and acts as a catalyst for continuous improvement.<\/p>
<\/p>
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 or departments.<\/p>
<\/p>
We will continue to target action where gaps persist.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4064", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Steve Baker"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Wycombe"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Steve Baker"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-04-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-04-17T13:52:13.003Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "21"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Northern Ireland"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Northern Ireland"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-03-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Northern Ireland Office: Disability"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4491", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Lewisham, Deptford"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Vicky Foxcroft"} ], "uin" : "177872"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }