Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps their Department is taking to support the Disability Confident scheme; how many officials in their Department work directly on supporting that scheme; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of that work in supporting the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of disabled people in their Department; and what further steps they are taking to support their Department’s recruitment and retention of disabled people.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) successfully renewed its Disability Confident Level 3 Leadership Certification in January 2024. This demonstrates our commitment to making the MOD a place that welcomes and encourages people with disabilities.
The MOD has a Disability Champion who is responsible for promoting inclusive behaviour; the postholder facilitates constructive challenge, fosters good relations in the workplace and contributes to the development of an inclusive culture. The Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) is owned by a HR Diversity and Inclusion policy lead who is responsible for engaging with stakeholders across the Department to ensure disability sits at the heart of our policies and processes and can be measured against the DCS criteria.
MOD supports the use of the DCS within its recruitment of civilian personnel and all MOD appointments advertised through Civil Service Jobs ask applicants if they wish to apply using DCS when they start their application. It is MOD policy that candidates using the scheme will be invited to interview provided they meet the minimum essential criteria for the advertised position. Recruiting panels also consider and implement any reasonable adjustments needed for interviews to ensure the selection process is fair for all candidates.
MOD also provides adjustments to support employees with disabilities throughout their employment as part of our responsibilities as an inclusive employer. These provisions take various forms, such as smart and flexible working, the provision of equipment and furniture for both office and home working, and IT software.
The MOD continues to monitor the effects of all actions aimed at making Defence a more attractive, diverse and inclusive employer. This work is having a positive effect on our overall representation of people who have declared a disability which has risen to 14% as at October 2023, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from April 2023.
The MOD has a range of inclusive training and career development opportunities, which are offered on a fair and open basis. The Future Leaders Scheme for eligible Grade 6&7 personnel, and the Senior Leaders Scheme for eligible Senior Civil Servants both offer successful candidates an accelerated development offer for those with a declared disability. The MOD’s Autism Exchange Intern Programme, developed in 2015, is a multi-award-winning programme which supports young people who are on the autistic spectrum to degree/postgraduate level qualifications. Reverse mentoring and challenge boards have also been implemented across the Department using staff from a range of under-represented groups, including those with disabilities. The MOD Talent Management Toolkit also offers advice and guidance to managers to ensure that all employees are treated fairly with regards to career advancement.
Finally, MOD has a DCS action plan and works with relevant stakeholders to implement actions; the group meets regularly to review progress against agreed actions.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Government response to the Women and Equalities Committee’s ninth report of Session 2017-19, Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, HC 2411, published on 2 July 2019, what progress the Government has made on developing a cross-Government strategy to improve outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We are not currently developing a standalone cross-Government strategy for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The Levelling Up White Paper sets out this Government’s plan to support everyone in this country to reach their full potential, irrespective of background, race, ethnicity or any other characteristics.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) insurance sector, (b) Financial Conduct Authority, (c) Financial Ombudsman and (d) Equality and Human Rights Commission on the ability of people in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to obtain (i) buildings and (ii) contents insurance.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and insurers must comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory rules.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s rules require insurers to treat their customers fairly and the FCA has robust powers to act against firms that do not comply. The UK Government is also committed to tackling discrimination and the Equality Act 2010 providers legal protections from discrimination due to protected characteristics. This means insurers cannot use ethnicity as a risk factor when determining the price of insurance.
Customers who feel they have not been treated fairly by their insurer are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent body established to provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to obtain (a) buildings and (b) contents insurance.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and insurers must comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory rules.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s rules require insurers to treat their customers fairly and the FCA has robust powers to act against firms that do not comply. The UK Government is also committed to tackling discrimination and the Equality Act 2010 providers legal protections from discrimination due to protected characteristics. This means insurers cannot use ethnicity as a risk factor when determining the price of insurance.
Customers who feel they have not been treated fairly by their insurer are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent body established to provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many learning disability nurse vacancies there are as of 30 April 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold vacancy rates that are granular enough to identify rates for learning disability nurses. However, NHS England publishes quarterly vacancy statistics for registered nurses working in National Health Service trusts, which are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-vacancies-survey
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department takes to involve people with learning disabilities in the development and implementation of measures to reduce their health inequalities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We recognise the importance of involving people with a learning disability in policy development and implementation to support in reducing the health inequalities they experience. We aim to do this in a range of ways within the Department, some of which are set out below.
Experts by experience are members of governance structures, such as the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice Board. This Board has supported the development of the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice. The Code will guide registered health and care providers to meet their statutory requirement to ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. The Code sets an expectation that training is co-produced and co-delivered by people with a learning disability and autistic people. The draft Code was publicly consulted on, including an easy read version to ensure accessibility.
In developing the Building the Right Support (BtRS) Action Plan, published in July 2022, we sought expertise, advice and challenge from experts by experience. The Plan brings together actions across government and public services to strengthen community support and reduce overall reliance on specialist mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people.
The BtRS Advisory Group was established to improve direct engagement with experts by experience. The Group developed an independent, co-produced report on ‘What Good Looks Like’ in terms of community services. The final report has a specific focus on actions that integrated care systems should take to ensure the best possible community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Additionally, the Department jointly manages the Health and Wellbeing Alliance which is a partnership between representatives in the health and care system and sector. This enables the sector, including people with a learning disability, to share their expertise at a national level with the aim of improving services and policy development.
Integrated care boards are now expected to have an Executive Lead on learning disability and autism. As part of their role, the Executive Lead will support the Board in championing co-production of policies and service delivery and recognising the value of people’s lived experiences. NHS England has published guidance on this role, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/executive-lead-roles-within-integrated-care-boards/
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2024 to Question 23729 on the National Learning Disability Board, for what reason the National Learning Disability Board was disbanded in 2016.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2016, following a reorganisation and re-prioritisation exercise within the Department, the decision was made to disband the National Learning Disability Board and integrate its objectives into wider programmes and activities aimed at improving outcomes for this population. The Department keeps its governance structures under periodic review.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department spent on autism assessments in each of the last five years; how much funding her Department has allocated to autism assessments in each of the next three years; and what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of that funding in meeting the target waiting time for such an assessment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Information on the total spend on autism assessments is not held centrally. NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards (ICBs), which are responsible for commissioning services using these core allocations to meet the needs of their local populations, including autism assessment services. The following table shows the total baseline expenditure in ICBs for learning disability and autism services over the last five years, disaggregated for autism services where possible:
| Learning disability | Autism services | Unseparated learning disability and autism services | Total |
2019/20 | N/A | N/A | £1,809,200,000 | £1,809,200,000 |
2020/21 | N/A | N/A | £2,285,600,000 | £2,285,600,000 |
2021/22 | £85,800,000 | £3,700,000 | £2,268,300,000 | £2,357,900,000 |
2022/23 | £625,800,000 | £27,100,000 | £1,928,800,000 | £2,581,700,000 |
2023/24 | £926,000,000 | £47,100,000 | £1,928,800,000 | £2,904,600,000 |
In addition, specific funding has been allocated to ICBs in 2023/4 and 2024/25 from the Service Development Funding, to improve autism assessment waiting lists and pathways. The following table shows information on the additional national funding allocated to ICBs by NHS England, over each of the last five years, to improve autism assessment waiting lists and pathways:
| Service Development Funding via the NHS Long Term Plan Transformation Funding | Spending Review 2021 via the COVID-19 Recovery Fund | Total funding for autism assessment pathways |
2019/20 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2020/21 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
2021/22 | £2,500,000 | £14,500,000 | £17,000,000 |
2022/23 | £5,000,000 | N/A | £5,000,000 |
2023/24 | £4,200,000 | N/A | £4,200,000 |
2024/25 | £4,300,000 | N/A | £4,300,000 |
Notes:
The NHS Operational and Planning Guidance 2024/25 asks local systems to improve autism assessment pathways, through implementation of the NHS England autism assessment national framework. Allocations from 2025/26 onwards are subject to future decisions on spending. Further information on the operational and planning guidance and national framework is available respectively at the following links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/autism-diagnosis-and-operational-guidance/
A specific assessment of the adequacy of funding in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s waiting time standard for autism assessments has not been made. However, autism waiting times statistics are published on a quarterly basis. The total number of people with an open referral, where the diagnosis not yet completed, for suspected autism has increased by 47%, from 117,032 in December 2022 to 172,022 in December 2023. In December 2023, it was estimated that only 5.9% of patients whose referrals have been open in the system for at least 13 weeks received their first contact appointment within 13 weeks.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many learning disability nurses there (a) are and (b) were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes monthly Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working for hospital trusts and core organisations, but excludes staff working for other providers such as in primary care, general practice, or social care. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. The statistics are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
A large proportion of learning disability nurses work outside NHS trusts, and we do not hold data on where they work. However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council publishes data on the number of nurses on the register across the United Kingdom, which will include nurses employed in other settings, such as education. Data is available in the Fields of Practice sheet in the permanent register data tables, at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of learning disability nurses are in senior leadership roles.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes monthly Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working for hospital trusts and core organisations, but excludes staff working for other providers such as in primary care, general practice, or social care. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. The statistics are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
A large proportion of learning disability nurses work outside NHS trusts, and we do not hold data on where they work. However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council publishes data on the number of nurses on the register across the United Kingdom, which will include nurses employed in other settings, such as education. Data is available in the Fields of Practice sheet in the permanent register data tables, at the following link:
https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/