Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that suppliers (a) linked to forced labour in Xinjiang and (b) named in allied sanctions lists are excluded from public procurement frameworks.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government is committed to tackling human rights abuses including modern slavery and human trafficking in public supply chains.
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act came into force, providing contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains. Contracting authorities are encouraged to review a wide range of information on suppliers when seeking to determine whether an exclusion ground applies, including sanction lists.
The Act’s new debarment powers also enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will use, where appropriate, to effectively hold organisations to account.
The Cabinet Office has, in addition, published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent evaluation his Department has made of the adequacy of the Disability Confident scheme’s conversion rate from interview to appointment for disabled applicants across government departments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The purpose of the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) is to ensure that disabled candidates are given a fair opportunity to demonstrate their skills at interview. Of those who applied for a vacancy using the Civil Service Jobs website in the approximately five year period 2019-2024:
c.13% of applicants applied under the DCS
c.12% of candidates who were invited to interview had applied under DCS
c.9% of applicants who were successful at interview had applied under DCS
The Department for Work and Pensions is continuing to explore whether any reforms to the criteria for DCS are needed.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of reasonable adjustments in public sector recruitment processes for disabled applicants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is fully committed to the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), which protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace. The Act prohibits direct and indirect disability discrimination and requires employers - including those in the public sector - to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and applicants who meet the Act’s definition of disability, to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their non-disabled colleagues.
The reasonable adjustment duty on employers requires them to make adjustments to any element of a job, job application or interview process, whether on an anticipatory basis or at the request of the disabled person.
The failure of an employer to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee or job seeker, or discounting a job application simply because the applicant is disabled could amount to direct disability discrimination under the Act.
The Act recognises the need to strike a balance between the needs of disabled people and the interests of employers. What is ‘reasonable’ will vary from one situation to another. This is because factors like the practicability and cost of making the reasonable adjustment, and the resources available to different employers will be different. It will therefore be for the courts to decide, in the event of a claim of alleged disability discrimination, and on a case-by-case basis, what reasonable adjustments should be made.
It is a matter for individual public sector employers as to how they ensure compliance with their legal obligations under the Act, but many will be subject to the Act’s Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which requires public authorities, and those carrying out public functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination (including on grounds of disability), advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people. The duty to have “due regard” obliges a public authority to consider the equality aims set out in the duty when exercising its functions, like taking decisions, and then to decide what weight to accord to them. Public authorities place themselves at greater legal risk if they do not interpret the law correctly.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) provides authoritative and impartial advice free to employees or employers in relation to employment discrimination issues via their website. and telephone helpline 0300 123 1100 or text relay service 18001 0300 123 1100. You can access the website here: http://www.acas.org.uk. Acas also provides employees and employers with Early Conciliation to help them resolve/settle their workplace dispute without going to court.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to improve accessibility for disabled candidates seeking employment in the public sector.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is fully committed to the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), which protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace. The Act prohibits direct and indirect disability discrimination and requires employers - including those in the public sector - to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and applicants who meet the Act’s definition of disability, to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their non-disabled colleagues.
The reasonable adjustment duty on employers requires them to make adjustments to any element of a job, job application or interview process, whether on an anticipatory basis or at the request of the disabled person.
The failure of an employer to make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee or job seeker, or discounting a job application simply because the applicant is disabled could amount to direct disability discrimination under the Act.
The Act recognises the need to strike a balance between the needs of disabled people and the interests of employers. What is ‘reasonable’ will vary from one situation to another. This is because factors like the practicability and cost of making the reasonable adjustment, and the resources available to different employers will be different. It will therefore be for the courts to decide, in the event of a claim of alleged disability discrimination, and on a case-by-case basis, what reasonable adjustments should be made.
It is a matter for individual public sector employers as to how they ensure compliance with their legal obligations under the Act, but many will be subject to the Act’s Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which requires public authorities, and those carrying out public functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination (including on grounds of disability), advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people. The duty to have “due regard” obliges a public authority to consider the equality aims set out in the duty when exercising its functions, like taking decisions, and then to decide what weight to accord to them. Public authorities place themselves at greater legal risk if they do not interpret the law correctly.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) provides authoritative and impartial advice free to employees or employers in relation to employment discrimination issues via their website. and telephone helpline 0300 123 1100 or text relay service 18001 0300 123 1100. You can access the website here: http://www.acas.org.uk. Acas also provides employees and employers with Early Conciliation to help them resolve/settle their workplace dispute without going to court.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) anonymised CVs and (b) name-blind recruitment on diversity outcomes in Government departments.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service.
Anonymous CVs and name-blind recruitment, which are already used widely across the civil service, limit the impact that bias may have on recruitment, so that candidates are judged on the skills and experience they have outlined.