Disabled People (Work)

Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 19 July 2010.

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Photo of Nadhim Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi Conservative, Stratford-on-Avon 2:30, 19 July 2010

What steps he is taking to assist disabled people to work.

Photo of Damian Hinds Damian Hinds Conservative, East Hampshire

What steps he is taking to assist disabled people to work.

Photo of Maria Miller Maria Miller The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Nearly half of all disabled people are already in employment. However, many more could work with the right support, and want to do so. We have announced plans to implement the Work programme, which will provide personalised help to those and other customers to return to work, and we will also ensure that there is a specialist package of provision to help the most severely disabled people.

Photo of Nadhim Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi Conservative, Stratford-on-Avon

In my constituency, people are rightly worried about relatives with severe mental health disability attending the work capability assessment. Can my hon. Friend tell us what safeguards will be put in place for those people?

Photo of Maria Miller Maria Miller The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The work capability assessment was, of course, developed in consultation with medical experts and disability specialist groups. There will be an annual review to ensure that any problems with the assessment are dealt with, and there has already been a Department-led review dealing with some of the issues that my hon. Friend raises in connection with people with mental health problems. Modifications will be made, especially by expanding the support group to cover people with severe disability issues, to ensure that they are not inappropriately put into groups of activity.

Photo of Damian Hinds Damian Hinds Conservative, East Hampshire

My hon. Friend will be aware of the outstanding work done by Treloar college in my constituency in assisting students with very severe disabilities into work through their world of work and job coaching programmes. What can the Government do to encourage more firms to partner the college in such programmes?

Photo of Maria Miller Maria Miller The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the staff who work at Treloar college and to the many volunteers throughout Hampshire-including in my constituency-who fundraise to help to support the excellent work that they do. It is an important independent specialist provider which supports people with some of the most complex and profound disabilities. Other providers can learn from Treloar's how to work in partnership with local employers to provide youngsters with severe disabilities with skills that make them employable so that they can get into work.

Photo of Jim Sheridan Jim Sheridan Labour, Paisley and Renfrewshire North

Despite the best efforts of the last Government, there is still anecdotal evidence that people with disabilities are being discriminated against in the workplace. Can the Minister assure the House that every step will be taken to ensure that employers responsible for discriminating against people with disabilities will face the severest of penalties?

Photo of Maria Miller Maria Miller The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

There is some important legislation in place that will help employers to understand their responsibilities. The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the fact that we are only at the beginning of a process of implementing that legislation. It is about changing cultural norms in the workplace to ensure that reasonable changes are made to help more disabled people to do the work that they want to do.

Photo of Kerry McCarthy Kerry McCarthy Opposition Assistant Whip (Commons), Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)

In the coalition agreement, the Government pledged to reform the access to work programme. Will the Minister tell us what the timetable for that reform will be, and can she give us an assurance that the programme will continue to be funded at the same level in real terms as the current access to work programme? Or is reform just another byword for cuts?

Photo of Maria Miller Maria Miller The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

I am sure that the hon. Lady will be pleased to know that I have already had meetings with officials and with employers who are participating in access to work, so as to understand how we can make it work better for more disabled people. The real challenge is to ensure that the money available supports more disabled people in an effective way, so that we actually get people into work rather than leaving them languishing on benefits.