Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Disabled People and their Carers

Monday 8 March 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Florence Eshalomi asked the Minister about discussions on the financial impact of the covid-19 outbreak on disabled people and their carers.
  • The Minister responded that disabled people and carers have access to a full range of social security benefits based on their circumstances.
  • The Minister mentioned that the Government is proud of the record disability employment increase of 1.4 million since 2014.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Florence Eshalomi Labour (Co-op) Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
Benefits & Welfare
Context

No specific incident or statistic is mentioned, but the question asks about discussions around financial impacts.

Question

What discussions has she had with Cabinet colleagues on the financial effect of the covid-19 outbreak on disabled people and their carers?

Answer from Justin Tomlinson

Disabled people and their carers have access to the full range of social security benefits according to their circumstances. DWP Ministers and officials regularly discuss support for disabled people and carers with their counterparts across government, and recognise and value the vital contribution made by carers in supporting some of the most vulnerable in society.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Discussions on specific financial impacts not addressed, general statement given instead

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Q2 Florence Eshalomi Labour (Co-op) Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
Employment Benefits & Welfare Women & Equalities
Context

A recent survey by Inclusion London found that over one in three disabled people experienced a worsening financial situation during the lockdown. Research by Citizens Advice indicates that one in four disabled employees faced redundancy since the pandemic began.

Question

I thank the Minister for his answer. A recent survey of disabled people conducted by Inclusion London, a disability organisation based in my constituency, found that more than one in three disabled people had experienced a worsening financial situation during the lockdown, and recent research by Citizens Advice found that one in four disabled employees has faced redundancy since the pandemic started. We know that even before this pandemic, disabled people faced an employment gap of nearly 30% when compared with non-disabled workers. Will the Government commit to using the upcoming national disability strategy to bring forward comprehensive proposals to address the chronic employment insecurity that disabled people face in the wake of covid-19?

Answer from Justin Tomlinson

I thank the hon. Lady for raising a very important point about disability employment. The Government are very proud that we delivered record disability employment—it is up 1.4 million since 2014 alone. Even during these unprecedented challenging times, over the past 12 months 25,000 more disabled people are in work. But we recognise that there will be challenges going forward, which is why we have made changes to Access to Work so that people can get support working at home; we have increased our support through Disability Confident, sharing best practice and providing resources to employers to be able to make changes, often small ones, to take advantage of the huge talent pool available. This is a key area, and in both the forthcoming national strategy for disabled people and the health and disability Green Paper we will continue to look at ways in which we can support employers to offer more opportunities for disabled people of all ages.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Commitment on using the national disability strategy not explicitly given, only future plans mentioned

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