Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2023 to Question 153888 on Disability, which Ministerial Disability Champions attended the meeting on 14 March 2023; if he will publish the minutes of that meeting; and when the next meeting of Ministerial Disability Champions is due to take place.

The Ministerial Disability Champions (MDC) roundtable took place on 14 March 2023. It was an opportunity for me to welcome the new cohort of MDCs who have been appointed across Government, to thank them for their commitment to improve disabled people’s lives and to emphasise how they and their departments are key to the development and delivery of the upcoming Disability Action Plan.

MDCs who attended:

Tom Pursglove MP - Dept for Work and Pensions (DWP) (Chair)

Trudy Harrison MP - Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Mike Freer MP - Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

Claire Coutinho MP - Dept for Education (DfE)

Kevin Hollinrake MP - Dept for Business and Trade (DBT)

Sarah Dines MP - The Home Office (HO)

The Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP - Dept for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

The Rt Hon Johnny Mercer MP - Cabinet Office (CO)

The Rt Hon Dr Andrew Murrison MP - Ministry of Defence (MOD)

Richard Holden MP - Dept for Transport (DfT)

David Rutley MP - Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

Dr James Davies MP - Office of the Secretary of State for Wales

John Lamont MP - Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland

Steve Baker MP - Office of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The Rt Hon Victoria Prentis KC MP - Attorney General (Attorney General’s Office)

We intend to hold a further roundtable meeting for those MDCs who could not attend the meeting on 14 March, ahead of the next full roundtable meeting.

The Government does not plan to publish the minutes from MDC roundtables.

The next full MDC roundtable is currently scheduled to take place on Monday 15 May 2023.