Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the wording in the framework for voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing so that it matches the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010 and the Government Statistical Service's disability disclosure question.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.
We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.
Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.
The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to require large employers to publish data on the (1) number, and (2) pay, of disabled employees.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.
We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.
Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.
The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to extend the voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing framework to include the number or proportion of disabled employees in each pay quartile.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.
We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.
Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.
The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to make the framework for voluntary reporting on disability, mental health and wellbeing a mandatory requirement for Disability Confident Leaders.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott
We announced on 2 November that new Disability Confident (DC) Leaders (Level 3) and Disability Confident Leaders applying for re-accreditation will need to use the voluntary reporting framework (VRF) to publicly report on disability employment. A copy of which is attached. Although there is flexibility in how employers can use the VRF, we expect that most DC Leaders would choose to combine it with their annual report and accounts.
We developed the voluntary reporting framework with a group of employers and disability stakeholders. It is deliberately designed to be flexible, recognising that different employers start in different places. It does not require reporting on pay and we have no current plans to require pay reporting.
Disability Confident leaders are now required to publicly report using the voluntary reporting framework and one of the measures the framework encourages is the number of disabled people employed.
The definition of disability in the voluntary reporting framework is self-declared, asking employees if they ‘consider’ themselves to have a disability. The framework is both voluntary and flexible, designed based on feedback from employers and other stakeholders. If we choose to go further in future, we will look at the case for alignment with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
We are committed to reducing the disability employment gap, and will report on progress regularly. We will consider the case for a target as part of our work on the new National Disability Strategy which we have committed to publish by the end of 2020.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their command paper Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, Cm 9526, published November 2017, what progress they have made on the commitment to establish a voluntary reporting framework; which data sets employers are reporting; and how many employers have adopted this reporting framework.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
We have worked with large employers and expert partners to develop a voluntary reporting framework to support organisations to record and voluntarily report information on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. This framework was published on 22nd November 2018 and is aimed at large employers with 250 or more employees. The framework encourages employers to report what steps they are taking to support their disabled employees and employee health and wellbeing as well as the percentage of individuals within their organisation with a disability or a long-term physical or mental health condition. Government are working with partners to actively promote the framework and to monitor and review its effectiveness.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are currenty employed directly by the Office for Disability Issues; and how many people were employed by the Office for Disability Issues at the end of each calendar year since its inception in 2005.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
On 9 May 2019 the current number of staff in Office for Disability Issues is 16.
The numbers of staff in preceding years was;
1 Jan 2019 | 15 |
1 Jan 2018 | 11.5 |
1 Jan 2017 | 13.65 |
1 Jan 2016 | 20.4 |
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Information not available between April 2012 to December 2015 as the ODI data was subsumed into that of a larger team.
For 2010 to 2012 figures are available for end of financial year only
March 2012 | 29 |
March 2011 | 42 |
March 2010 | 48 |
Prior to March 2010 no information is available due to the ODI data being subsumed into that of a larger team.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how UK public spending on disability and incapacity compares with other G7 nations.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
As a share of GDP, latest data shows that the UK’s public spending on disability and incapacity is the second highest in the G7. Public incapacity spending in the G7 countries is shown in the table.
| Public spending – incapacity-related (per cent of Gross Domestic Product) |
Germany | 2.1 |
United Kingdom | 2.0 |
Italy | 1.7 |
France | 1.7 |
United States of America | 1.4 |
Japan | 1.0 |
Canada | 0.8 |
Source: Social Expenditure Database, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they spend on supporting people with disabilities and health conditions; and how much this amount has risen in real terms since 2010.
Answered by Baroness Buscombe
In 2018/19, forecast expenditure on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions is £54.0 billion. This is £9.3 billion more than in 2010/11.