Department for Work and Pensions: Epilepsy

(asked on 30th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of employees in her Department who have active epilepsy.


Answered by
Guy Opperman Portrait
Guy Opperman
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 11th January 2021

As at September 2020, 47 staff declared themselves on Departmental systems as having epilepsy. This figures include unpaid staff.

Please note that it is not mandatory for staff to declare a disability or long-term health condition, and if they have declared this, to state the type of condition, so this is likely to be an underestimate. It also does not differentiate between active/inactive epilepsy.

The Department is committed to becoming the most inclusive employer and increasing the representation of under-represented groups to make DWP more diverse. In order to maintain our focus on disability issues we have developed and agreed a Disability Action Plan for the forthcoming year. We implement all practical steps to remove barriers for our employees with any kind of disability, including epilepsy. Specifically:

  • We have a comprehensive reasonable adjustments provision in place to support line-managers and colleagues, they can involve specialist equipment, assistive software and/or non-physical adjustments such as changing work patterns.
  • We have developed strong employee networks and our disability network THRIVE is providing invaluable support to colleagues.
  • We are members of Business Disability Forum who provide specific guidance on epilepsy, which we signpost via our intranet pages.
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