Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2022 to Question 102720 on Armed Forces: Disability, what progress his Department has made towards meeting its target of bringing 15.3 per cent more disabled people into the civilian workforce by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
One of the Ministry of Defence (MOD)’s commitments in the National Disability Strategy is to publish a plan to increase the disabled civilian workforce to 15.3% by 2030. Implementation of this plan is currently ongoing.
As of 1 April 2023, 11.9% of MOD main civilian personnel have declared a disability, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared with 1 April 2022. Meanwhile, we continue our work as a Disability Confident Leader, ensuring our disabled colleagues are valued and supported, and that workplace adjustments are made in a timely manner.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of their Department's employees are recorded as having a disability.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes biannual diversity statistics on its civilian staff excluding those employed by organisations with delegated personnel functions (Trading funds, DE&S Bespoke Trading Entity, Executive Agencies, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Locally engaged civilians (LECs)). The most recent statistics were published in December 2022 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-diversity-dashboard-october-2022.
Table 6 - Disability Representation of MOD Main Civilian Personnel shows that as at 1 October 2022, 11.5% of MOD Main civilian personnel had an active declaration of disabled.
The MOD D&I Strategy 2018-30 for its civilian workforce has specific measurable and achievable aims to increase representation of staff with a disability across the department, including the Senior Civil Service. The MOD is an accredited ‘Disability Confident Scheme Leader’ and encourages candidates with disabilities to apply to Defence.
The MOD has several initiatives to support disabled personnel across the whole of Defence, including the Defence and civilian networks and champions. The Civil Service Workplace Adjustment Service is well established, offering specialist advice and access to a review route for disabled employees experiencing difficulties in securing the adjustments they need. The service includes a Workplace Adjustment Passport to facilitate the seamless retention of adjustments on a change of line manager, job role or move between business areas.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has a ministerial disability champion.
Answered by Andrew Murrison
I was appointed as the Ministerial Disability Champion for the Ministry of Defence in February 2023.
I will work with the other Ministerial Disability Champions appointed in each Government Department, to represent the interests of disabled people and drive forward progress on disability policy across Government.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, published July 2021, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) encourage and support workplace disability networks, (b) achieve and maintain the highest level of Disability Confident accreditation, (c) ensure responsive and timely support to meet workplace adjustment needs and (d) develop and embed flexible working.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has an active disability network which is open to staff, both military and civilian, to join and runs several events throughout the year.
Under the Government's Disability Confident scheme, MOD has been an accredited 'Disability Confident Leader' at level 3 (the highest level) since September 2017. This was renewed in March 2021. Our aims are that staff with disabilities should feel valued and supported, that managers should have access to consistent advice and expertise, and that reasonable adjustments will be made in a timely manner. As a Disability Confident Employer, we benefit from being able to draw from the widest possible pool of talent, secure, retain, and develop staff with disabilities who are skilled, loyal, and hard-working.
All staff are entitled to request reasonable adjustments in their workplace and the Department strives to ensure these are assessed, administered, and delivered as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Defence's approach to flexible (including hybrid) working is set out in our Future Workplace Strategy. We have revised our Flexible Working policy to reflect these changes and engaged with the MOD Disability Network to ensure that the needs of employees with disabilities were met. Our policies support employees, including these with disabilities to work flexibly using a range of working patterns/schedules to help them to meet personal and work commitments. Employees with disabilities can also access appropriate equipment and technology to enable them to carry out their role.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy, what plans his Department has published to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce to meet its target of 15.3 per cent by 2030; and what progress has been made towards that target as of 12 January 2022.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to creating the best possible working environment for, and maximising the potential of, all our people. Defence has made commitments to the new Government wide Disability Strategy and have been developing new working models and policies to create a better working environment for Defence people that require assistance. As part of the National Disability Strategy, the MOD committed to publishing a plan to bring more disabled people into the civilian workforce and achieve our 15.3% target. We had hoped to have this in place by September 2021, as stated in the Strategy, but this has not proved possible, and we aim to do so as soon as practicable. The most recent available statistics show that, as of 1 April 2021, the Defence civilian disability representation rate was 11.9%.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much an army sergeant has been paid on average in each year from 2005 to 2020 in real terms; and if paid on a scale, what the range of that scale was.
Answered by Johnny Mercer
The information needed to respond to the hon. Member’s question is taking time to collate, and I will write to her shortly.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding his Department provides to (a) local authorities and (b) private residences to help pay for home security requirements for ex-forces personnel living with PTSD.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Ministry of Defence does not provide any funding to local authorities or private residences to help pay for home security requirements for ex-forces personnel living with PTSD.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the socio-economic background of people appointed to senior positions in his Department in the last five years.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Civil Service is currently looking at the best way to start implementing the measures published in June across Government Departments, to better understand the background of people appointed in senior positions.
The Government is committed to social mobility, and we are committed to creating an organisation in which everybody can thrive.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of cadet forces to reducing the incidence of serious youth violence.
Answered by Julian Brazier
The Ministry of Defence-Sponsored Cadet Forces comprise the Sea Cadet Corps, the Combined Cadet Force, the Army Cadet Force, and the Air Training Corps.
The Department has not formally assessed the potential contribution of its Cadet Forces in reducing the incidence of serious youth violence. However, the 131,000 Cadets involved follow a wide variety of well-organised, enjoyable and challenging military-themed activities in a safely-managed environment.
Experience shows that these activities allow Cadets to develop a sense of responsibility and service to the community, self-reliance, leadership, teamwork, communication skills and respect for authority and for others. In undertaking these activities, Cadets can gain nationally-recognised educational and vocational qualifications.