Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the adequacy of the level of protection against discrimination in employment, training and career development for people with disabilities.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
Equality legislation for Disabled People is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
In Great Britain, the Equality Act 2010 defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-today activities”. Where an employee/applicant or service-user has a condition that fits the definition of a disability, they are protected under the 2010 Act. Employers and service-providers are therefore required to make reasonable adjustments available in order to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to those who do not have a disability.
It is for the courts to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether there has been disability discrimination where a reasonable adjustment has not been made available.
For those who need additional support over and above that which is a reasonable adjustment, Access to Work can help. Access to Work provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. Access to Work continues to support over 36,000 people per year take up or retain employment.
Disability Confident, on which this Department leads, was launched by the then Prime Minister in July 2013 to challenge perceptions, engage employers and promote good practice.
Disability Confident is about creating a movement for change - getting employers to think differently about disability and to take action to improve how they attract, recruit and retain disabled workers.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to improve the life chances of people with disabilities.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government is committed to improving the life chances of disabled people and has made a commitment to halve the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people.
The Government is working with employers through Disability Confident to challenge attitudes towards disability and ensure that disabled people have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations. Since 2013 the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost half a million (493,000). Nearly 3.4 million disabled people are now in employment.
Access to Work provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose heath or disability affects the way they do their job. 36,470 individuals were helped by Access to Work in the 2015/16 including record numbers of people with learning disabilities, mental health conditions and young people. Last year’s Spending review announced a real-terms increase in funding for access to work starting in 16/17 to enable the scheme to help a further 25,000 people by the end of the parliament.
Work Choice is a voluntary contracted specialist disability employment programme introduced in 2010 and helps people with disabilities whose needs cannot be met through other employment programmes, Access to Work or workplace adjustments. It provides individually tailored support (e.g. job search skills, basic training, and work placements) for disabled people who face the most complex employment barriers to find and stay in work.
Later this year, we will produce a Green Paper exploring a range of options to close the disability employment gap and transform the lives and prospects of disabled people, and conduct a consultation which will reach out to disabled people and their representative organisations.
Asked by: Danny Kinahan (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many women affected by state pension age equalisation live in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The issue raised is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.