Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of deaf support services to (a) constituents in West Lancashire and (b) people throughout Lancashire by (i) Lancashire County Council, (ii) the NHS, (iii) courts, (iv) local authorities and (v) other public agencies.

It is for each Government department and public authority to make adequate provision for deaf support services. Disability in the UK is mainstreamed. This means that whilst I promote disability issues across government, every department is ultimately responsible for considering disability in the development and implementation of its policies and services.

For services provided by the Department for Work and Pensions to customers who are deaf or have hearing loss, we provide the following services:

• Interpretation services such as BSL
• Video Relay Service for BSL users claiming certain benefits
• Videos with BSL translations on certain topics
• Textphone services for customers unable to contact the Department by phone
• Next Generation Text for which users require access to a smart device
• Email as a reasonable adjustment to replace other communication methods