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<\/p>
The disability employment gap has reduced. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey data is used to measure the employment rate gap between working age disabled people and the total working age population.<\/p>
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The Government is committed to ensuring that all disabled people have the opportunities and support that they need to get a job and to remain in work. There is a range of provision to provide this support including the Work Programme, Access to Work and Work Choice programmes. Further, in December 2013, the Government published \u2018the disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far'.<\/p>
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A new Health and Work Service (HWS) is being developed to provide occupational health advice and support for employees, employers and GP's to help individuals with a health condition to stay in or return to work.The intention is to introduce the service by the end of 2014.<\/p>
<\/p>
In July 2013, The Prime Minister launched the Disability Confident Campaign to help increase employer confidence in recruiting and retaining disabled people as part of a diverse workforce, and to provide opportunities for employers and organisations to share learning and good practice.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3893", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Freud"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Freud"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-05-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-05-14T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-05-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to close the employment gap for disabled people since the ending of the quota system in 1995; and how progress is being monitored.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3785", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Thomas of Winchester"} ], "uin" : "HL6929"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/50212", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/50212/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
DWP, in partnership with Civil Service Learning, provides a wide range of diversity and disability learning opportunities for staff.<\/p>
<\/p>
The \u2018Equality and Diversity Essentials' package provides an overview of the Equality Act 2010, the Public Sector Equality Duty and covers disability for customers and employees. The learning is targeted at all new employees as part of induction and as a refresher for other staff.<\/p>
<\/p>
DWP offers a follow up \u2018Disability Awareness' course. This aims to build the confidence of managers to give effective support to disabled employees.<\/p>
<\/p>
DWP customer facing staff are trained in the skills required to support a range of claimants and to respect their individual needs. This approach ensures they are skilled to deal with a diverse set of circumstances, whilst treating everyone as individuals. Jobcentre Advisers, in particular, have access to a comprehensive training programme which focuses on raising awareness of the individual's personal circumstances, including disabilities, and also recognises that those circumstances can affect individuals in different ways.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Department regularly participates in external benchmarking activity to measure and improve performance for disabled staff, customers and service users. 2013 results showed a significant improvement in performance from 2012.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3893", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Freud"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Freud"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-05-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-05-14T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-05-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Jobcentre Plus: Training"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what training is provided on disability awareness to staff in Jobcentre Plus offices as part of the public sector equality duty; and what steps are being taken to ensure that awareness by staff of obligations under the duty is improving.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3785", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Thomas of Winchester"} ], "uin" : "HL6930"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/50213", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/50213/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Where there is a medical need, our policy is to allow claimants to use toilet facilities in our Jobcentres, subject to constraints in certain locations caused by the layout of the building and keeping people safe. We consider that this policy complies with the requirement under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3893", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Freud"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Freud"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-05-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-05-13T12:00:00.00Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2014-05-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, as part of the requirement to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, accessible toilets at Jobcentre Plus offices are available for the use of claimants with disabilities.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3785", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Thomas of Winchester"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Thomas of Winchester"} ], "uin" : "HL6931"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }