Covid-19: Disability-Inclusive Response

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2020 Westminster Hall

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron) for securing this important debate and for her excellent speech. She has saved me time by covering many of the points I would have made.

I will focus on people with hidden disabilities who are unable to wear masks. I was contacted earlier this year by a young woman called Georgina Fallows, who is a rape survivor and is unable to wear a mask because it triggers her post-traumatic stress disorder. She has experienced a number of incidents: one on a visit to a hair salon—she had booked the appointment in advance, but was challenged quite aggressively by a customer, who accused her of killing her dad because she was not wearing a mask—and another in a local supermarket. That has led to Georgina not wanting to go out for fear of being challenged and facing other such attacks.

Georgina is just one example of a person who has a hidden disability and is unable to wear a mask. She waived her right to anonymity about her rape attack so that she could champion this cause, because it is very close to her heart. She wants people to be aware that she is unable to wear a mask, and she does not want to feel awkward about that. Since Georgina got in touch with me, I have met a number of charities that have told me about the need for greater awareness of people with hidden disabilities. The charities that I spoke to include Mencap, the National Autistic Society, Sense, Asthma UK, the British Lung Foundation, Mind, Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London. I appreciate that the Government have set out a number of exemptions for wearing facemasks, but unfortunately many members of the public are not aware of them. The Government need a clear, high-profile public campaign.

To help to identify people who cannot wear a facemask, an organisation called Hidden Disabilities produces a lanyard that has a sunflower around the outside, and a badge similar in size to a parliamentary pass, that people can wear. I have spoken to some of the Minister’s colleagues about that, and I am sure he will be very positive about it in his response. We desperately need quick action, because we are approaching a situation in which people will have more restrictions placed upon them, so anybody who is not seen to be complying with the rules faces more of a challenge.

I will not repeat what other colleagues have said, but clearly social distancing is an issue for people with sight loss, and we must ensure that that is taken into consideration when looking at licences for street furniture, outdoor seating and that sort of thing. Communication is also very important; Sense and the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) raised that issue. We need British Sign Language as a standard and subtitled videos, and all Government comms and guidance must be accessible. A point was made about the easements, and I am sure the Minister will take that on board. We do not want the provision of care packages to people with disabilities to be restricted.

Oral Answers to Questions

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

I think the hon. Lady is confusing the element in the Select Committee report with the emergency contingency plan, which is an operational document that is prepared by all Departments in the event of the sort of emergency that requires, for example, redeployment within the Department. In terms of her broader question on what I think she was really referring to, I assure her that, as I pointed out, I am actively working with Ministers across the Government to make sure that we will be there to help people get into the new jobs that we rely on the private sector to create, but will be working across the public sector too.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

What estimate she has made of the average time taken to process work capability assessments during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

We have temporarily suspended face-to-face work capability assessments so that we do not place people at unnecessary risk. Healthcare professionals continue to make recommendations based on paper-based evidence where possible, and we have introduced telephone assessments. We are in the early phases of delivering telephone assessments and are closely monitoring the processing times.

[Bambos Charalambous]

One of my constituents who has progressive multiple sclerosis and is partially paralysed on his left side had to undergo a work capability assessment by phone. This resulted in his personal independence payment being cancelled, and then reviewed and reinstated at a lower rate. The decision is now being appealed so that he can get the higher level of PIP that he was previously on. Does the Minister agree that stringent safeguards need to be in place when making such telephone assessments to ensure that poor decisions are avoided?

[Justin Tomlinson]

I absolutely agree. We have independent audits looking at this. We are in the early stages of using telephone assessments, and there is a mix of the benefits because the WCA is separate from PIP. PIP is a few weeks further on in terms of using telephone assessments. Stakeholders welcome the opportunity and it is something we will explore in the Green Paper. However, I am happy to look at the individual case.

Draft Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order 2020

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2020 General Committees

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McDonagh. As the Minister has explained, the draft order revises the lower threshold of the automatic enrolment and rounded figures for the earnings trigger qualifying earnings band for the tax year 2020-21. It revokes the equivalent order from last year and provides that the amounts of the qualifying earnings band should continue to be aligned with the national insurance contributions lower and upper earnings limits for the tax year 2020-21, which have been set at £6,240 and £50,000 respectively. The automatic enrolment earnings figure should remain at £10,000.

Auto-enrolment was introduced following Adair Turner’s 2006 review, commissioned by the then Labour Government, to ensure that people who were not adequately covered or who had no cover at all were able to have better workplace pension provision than before. Since auto-enrolment started in 2012 more than 10.2 million workers have been enrolled in the pension scheme, with 1.6 million employers having met their duties.

Auto-enrolment has been a huge success, with 77% of UK employees now members of their workplace pension scheme—an increase from 47% in 2012. Much more still needs to be done, with an estimated 5 million workers who are self-employed or who work in the gig economy not qualifying for auto-enrolment, and only 15% of self-employed people contributing to a pension scheme in 2017-18—a figure that has decreased from 27% in the late 2000s. That is a worrying trend. As the world of work changes, auto-enrolment needs to change too, and although that is not an issue for this debate I ask the Minister to take note in future. That said, we are happy to support the draft order.

Pension Funds: Financial and Ethical Investments

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd May 2019 Westminster Hall

[Sir Edward Davey]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend. In government, we placed tough regulations on that sector, which were based strongly on environmental considerations. It has not been able to grow to meet them. It has nowhere to go.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. I agree entirely that Parliament should take the lead in not investing in fossil fuels. Yesterday, BP’s investors decided that it should adopt a totally different strategy on carbon fuels so it fits in with the Paris agreement on climate change. Does he agree that other companies should take that way forward?

[Sir Edward Davey]

I saw what happened at the BP annual general meeting yesterday, and I welcome it, although a second motion, which was a bit stricter, did not carry. I would have liked that motion to carry.

That brings me to my argument. Not only is there a moral imperative for us to divest, given the threat climate change poses to our planet; there is also a financial risk for pension funds and their beneficiaries. We need to explore that. We need to make it clear to pension fund managers and trustees that pulling out of fossil fuels is the right thing to do in financial terms. The real issue is often called the carbon bubble. We are investing in more fossil fuels than we could possibly need if we were going to stay climate change compliant. At some stage, that bubble of investment in carbon that we do not need will burst, leaving pension funds and the wider economy in a serious mess. Those assets would be worthless; they would be stranded assets, which would cause huge disruption in our financial sector.

State Pension Age: Women

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Thursday 31st January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

I have a number of constituents who have tried to contact the Department, but have not successfully received a response. This just adds insult to injury. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to ensure that people get full responses to their inquiries?

[Tonia Antoniazzi]

When people write to complain, their correspondence has to be recognised, responded to and acted on. It is an absolute disgrace if that is not happening.

Personal Independence Payments

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Tuesday 11th September 2018 Commons Chamber

[Hugh Gaffney]

I certainly do agree.

Even today, more organisations have contacted me and sent me documents. These include the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Mencap, Headway—the brain injury association—and Scope. Surely all these people cannot be wrong.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

Is my hon. Friend aware that there was recently a challenge against the Government regarding PIP, and it showed that the Government were discriminating against people with mental health issues? This is an area on which the organisations that he mentioned provide support and campaign actively.

[Hugh Gaffney]

That is what I am doing—calling on this Government to think again in the interests of people right across the United Kingdom. PIP is not working. People have lost their lives. It is time to think again and to be fair, transparent and consistent. This was the Government’s flagship policy. I respect the Minister for being here to listen, but what more do she and her colleagues need to see before they halt the roll-out of PIP and think again? Can I say that it would have been nice to see the Secretary of State here for this debate as well?

This is all about politics. It is about the decisions taken in this place. I will work with anyone to get a better deal for these people, but let me be clear that these callous Tory policies will come to an end with the next UK Labour Government. That is why Labour is the party for the many, not the few.

Oral Answers to Questions

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Monday 2nd July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Ms McVey]

That is exactly what we are doing with the slow roll-out. We are listening to what is needed. Members on both sides of the House supported the policy of universal credit because the old legacy benefits were not working, but we have to get this right and support claimants during the roll-out.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

T3. Is the Minister aware of the hardship that parents face under the current regime of child maintenance non-resident parent capital rules? Will he meet me and my constituent, Elizabeth Green, to help to resolve her case, whereby her former partner has not paid a penny in maintenance in over 14 years, yet owns assets worth in excess of £5 million?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Kit Malthouse)]

I am more than happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and his constituent to discuss that particular issue. He will be aware that earlier this year the Government consulted on changes to the rules about child maintenance, including a power to impute an income from assets of 8.5%, and we hope to publish the conclusions from that consultation shortly.

Disabled People and Economic Growth

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Cameron]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and only yesterday I was contacted by a number of people and organisations reminding me to highlight that very point. People with mental health difficulties, and often people with hidden disabilities or disabilities that are not always apparent, can find it a struggle to explain and raise awareness about their difficulties and the adjustments they require. We need heightened awareness among employers—and in Parliament, too, I would suggest. We must continue along that path to raise awareness, to make sure we can harness the skills and potential of everyone for our economy.

All too often, people with disabilities are portrayed as passive and unwilling to work, but that could not be further from the truth. I want to use this debate to change the narrative. I want to see meaningful action, rather than research and rhetoric. I want to see a welfare system that treats people with disabilities as a willing and able workforce. I want to see improvements to current access routes and the development of new workplace cultures that reflect a genuine appreciation on the part of employers of the positive contributions that people with disabilities make, and I want to see accredited business schemes that go further than ticking boxes. While I might not be able to cover all these points in my speech, I know that colleagues across the parties will be passionately advocating similar policy and attitudinal change, which is much needed. I hope the Minister will take on board all Members’ suggestions here today and that we will make progress moving forward.

I want to start on a positive, uplifting note. I have been greatly heartened over the past few weeks by hearing accounts of disabled entrepreneurs, employees and businesses that are champions of their fields. I would like to share but a few examples.

Hannah Chamberlain is a successful tech entrepreneur who recently won the £30,000 Stelios award for disabled entrepreneurs, which is run in conjunction with Leonard Cheshire Disability, after creating a video diary app that supports people to manage their mental health, called MentalSnapp. The app allows users to record short video diaries, rate their mood and name their feelings. It is an example of innovation at its finest, and I applaud Hannah for creating an app that will help so many.

John Cronin is an entrepreneur and now business leader who owns and runs his own sock company, which has made £1.4 million in its first year. John has Down’s syndrome. He runs the company in conjunction with his father and is the face of the brand. John is a business leader and manager, and nearly a third of his staff have a disability. John says his social and retail missions go hand in hand. He is a businessman and therefore is looking for good, reliable workers, and he believes the disabled community has a vast, untapped pool of great workers.

A number of larger corporations also understand the benefits of a diverse workforce. Corporations such as Channel 4 and Sainsbury’s are good examples of inclusive employers. Sainsbury’s and Channel 4’s workplace adjustment guides are second to none; both companies choose to focus on positive aspects of making adjustments, rather than their legal duty and minimal requirements to do so. Most importantly, these policies are distributed to all line managers, so everyone is aware of the adjustments they are entitled to, creating an open and inclusive environment and workforce in which both employees and company outputs can thrive. Channel 4 goes a step further by issuing “passports” for employees after receiving a workplace adjustment, so when the employee moves into a new role, or their line manager changes, the “passport” can be referred to and used in all future discussions with new line managers.

There are many other great examples of disabled business owners and entrepreneurs, and of inclusive employers, but I wanted to highlight those three, because each shows that in every corner of our economy, and in every type and size of business, inclusivity should be championed not just for ethical reasons, but because it makes good business and economic sense.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Lady for securing the debate and for the examples she has given of good practices in certain organisations, but is she aware that only 16% of people with autism are in full-time employment and only 32% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment at all? Does she agree that much more needs to be done to close the autism employment gap?

[Dr Cameron]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that important intervention highlighting the autism employment gap, which is far too large—much larger even than the disability employment gap. We must take extra strides to support people with autism into work, because they have great skills and abilities and they will be fantastic contributors to our economy given the appropriate opportunities.

Child Poverty: London

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2018 Westminster Hall

[Siobhain McDonagh]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention and for all his work on poverty and helping poor families in London, in particular in his constituency. I completely agree that the delay in universal credit, the difficulties in claiming and the lack of face-to-face contact to be able to resolve some of the problems will have dire impacts on people.

Those examples I gave from Mrs Sheridan’s letter are just some of the examples of child poverty from just one school in just one constituency in our capital, across which four in 10 children now live in poverty—an astonishing figure that is expected to rise. London, however, is a divided city and significant affluence and poverty exist side by side, sometimes on the same street.

Take the London Borough of Merton, where my constituency neighbours the more wealthy constituency of Wimbledon. When we compare child poverty in our borough, it proves to be a sombre metaphor for the story of rich and poor across our capital. There are almost triple the number of children in poverty in my constituency than in Wimbledon and, to be clear, that is not because my constituents are less deserving or work less hard. At local ward level, Cricket Green ward in Mitcham and Morden has a staggering 38% of children in poverty, while less than a five-minute drive away, in the same borough, Wimbledon’s Hillside ward has only 5.5% of children in poverty. Furthermore, Mrs Sheridan, the Malmesbury headteacher, noted a distressing observation she had made: children from her school are significantly smaller physically than their peers in Wimbledon schools.

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree with me that, as Save the Children found out, in almost half the families living in poverty the youngest child is under the age of five? Is it not therefore crucial that the Government target help on low-income families in the early years?

[Siobhain McDonagh]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I ask the Minister what the Government will do to ensure equality of opportunity for all children in our capital, so that the letters of their postcode will not be the determining factor in their lives, dictating how long they live and their quality of life. Almost half of families in poverty are those whose youngest child is under the age of five, the point my hon. Friend just made, so what will the Government do to provide support for low-income families in the early years? How will we ever plug the gap that the absence of Sure Start centres has left?

For the 8,598 children living in poverty in my constituency, the consequences will be lifelong: children who start behind stay behind, harming their prospects throughout life, and harming us all as a society. At birth, they are more likely to have a low birth weight. By primary school, half of all disadvantaged children begin without reaching a good level of early development, compared with the national average of only one third of children. By GCSE, in terms of the numbers achieving at least five A* to C grades, there is a gap of 28% between children receiving free school meals and their more affluent peers.

Supported Housing

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Wednesday 25th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

While I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement today that the local housing allowance cap will be lifted, I fear that the damage has already been done to supported housing providers, including women’s refuges.

I echo the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Jess Phillips): housing benefit is vital to women’s refuges. As non-profit organisations, they rely on the rental income from the women who stay with them to fund their services. However, LHA is set in line with the lowest 30% of market rents in a given area, and the rates will often not even meet the refuge’s rent charges, let alone provide the additional funds needed to maintain specialist emergency accommodation. The capping of LHA led to uncertainty and fear for women’s refuges, which are designed specifically to keep women safe and to offer them shelter and support until they can live independently without the threat of violence.

This morning, I spoke to Mary Mason of Solace Women’s Aid, which is a fantastic organisation that runs a women’s refuge in my constituency and in other areas of London. She told me that women seeking help in the refuge she runs face the most appalling danger and have been forced into homelessness. She further told me that any decrease in funding, including through the LHA cap, would have a very negative impact on women and children in danger. It was therefore entirely inappropriate that services like the Solace women’s refuge should have been subject to the LHA cap.

While I welcome today’s announcement from the Prime Minister about the lifting of the LHA cap, I await the detail next week and hope that all vulnerable people in supported housing receive the funding they so desperately need.