Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the National Disability Strategy, published on 28 July 2021, which of her Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to my Rt Hon. Friend Caroline Nokes, the Member for Romsey and Southampton North, today [3rd July 2023], UIN 189785.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Business and Trade employees remain employed by their previous departments until the new Department is established by a Transfer of Functions order. Data recorded for BEIS and DIT can be found below.
For BEIS, the proportion of people employed by the Department who have recorded that they have a disability was 11% as of 28 February 2023.
For DIT, the proportion of people employed by DIT who have reported having a disability was 12% as of 28 February 2023.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what steps his Department has taken to consult with disabled people and disabled people's organisations on flexible working since the 2019 general election.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Since December 2019, the Government has run a 12-week consultation on flexible working. As part of this exercise, we held individual and roundtable discussions with disabled people’s organisations, before publishing our response in December 2022. The response committed to legislative changes, several of which are being taken forward through the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill.
Furthermore, in April 2021, to ensure the effective representation of the views of disabled people, Scope became a member of the Flexible Working Taskforce, a partnership between Government Departments, business groups and third sector organisations set up to consider barriers to flexible working.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, what requirements his Department will place on employers to consult with employees before accepting or rejecting a flexible working request; and in what way the Government will ensure that those requirements are enforced.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government is pleased to support the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill which will introduce a requirement for employers to consult with an employee before rejecting their statutory flexible working request. The Bill does not specify what form the consultation should take.
The Government will work with both the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and the Flexible Working Taskforce to develop appropriate guidance on each of the measures that the Bill will introduce.
If an employer does not handle a request as required by Part 8A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, an employee may be able to bring a claim to an Employment Tribunal.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published on 15 March 2023, when and in what way the Government plans to introduce the right to request flexible working from the first day of employment.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Minister without Portfolio
The Government response to the “making flexible working the default” consultation was published on 5 December 2022. It sets out that the Government will make the right to request flexible working a ‘day one’ entitlement, by removing the existing 26-week qualifying period. This change will be delivered through secondary legislation, using existing powers in the Employment Rights Act 1996.
We are committed to introducing this change alongside the measures included in the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has a Ministerial disability champion.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Business and Trade has appointed Minister Hollinrake as Ministerial Disability Champion.