Ministers and officials from DExEU and other Government departments speak regularly to stakeholders from a variety of sectors, including disability groups, voluntary sector organisations, and organisations representing EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, to understand their concerns and priorities regarding our EU exit. Last year, our former Minister Rt. Hon. Baroness Anelay met with members of the Disability Charities Consortium, which represents eight disability charities.<\/p>
It is important to note that all disability protections covered in domestic legislation, namely the Equality Act 2006 and Equality Act 2010 (and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland) will also continue to apply after exit.<\/p>
Part of the design of the Settled Status scheme for EU citizens in the UK has been to meet the needs of this group. On 25 October, the Home Office announced grant funding of up to £9 million for voluntary and community organisations across the UK to provide support to EU citizens who might need additional help when applying for their immigration status through the EU Settlement Scheme. The grant will help these organisations to both inform vulnerable individuals about the need to apply for settled status and support them to complete their applications under the scheme.<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/strong> Government departments make use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when structuring their engagements on preparations for leaving the EU, which is a crucial component of planning. It is for departments to determine the manner in which engagement with stakeholders takes place. Given the sensitive nature of some discussions, there may be limited circumstances in which departments have used NDAs to enable those conversations, thereby reaching more stakeholders than would otherwise be the case.<\/p> As I said in my previous answer, this department has put a limited number of NDAs in place in the course of its work. The department\u2019s use of NDAs is limited to standard contractual arrangements with those providing services to support our work and are necessary to protect commercial considerations.<\/p> According to central records, the department has six current NDAs covering standard contractual arrangements with providers for activity including media monitoring, consultancy and research. Once awarded, we endeavour to adhere to cross-government guidance by publishing all contracts on the Contracts Finder within 90 days of award.<\/p>"}
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