Disabled People and Economic Growth — House of Commons, 2018-02-22
Topic: Mixed Topics
Sarah Louise Newton (Conservative, Centre-right): I add my congratulations to those already offered to the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron). I will not go through the names of everybody’s constituencies because I have so little time left, but she did a magnificent job in introducing this debate. I echo words from Members across the House about her commitment to this important issue, her sincerity, and the way that she opened the debate in such a positive way—sadly, that was in marked contrast to some of the later contributions. I praise the work of the all-party group for disability and all voluntary sector organisations that, in myriad ways, do so much to support its work It is important to hear voices from across the House, and we heard powerful, personal testimony from the hon. Members for Eastbourne (Stephen Lloyd), for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), and for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) about their lived experience of disability. They have all made significant contributions to improving opportunities for disabled people to play their full part in society. The hon. Member for Battersea raised some individual cases, and I would appreciate her providing me with the specific details so that I can resolve those matters I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch and Upminster (Julia Lopez) on becoming a Disability Confident employer. Yesterday she joined 78 Members of Parliament who have already done that, and there will be further such opportunities in the weeks and months ahead for those who have yet to take up the scheme. I praise her for and encourage her in the work that she will do in her constituency with Jobcentre Plus. Such work that we can do in our constituencies, by helping local employers to take seriously our desire to see more disabled people in employment, is important and powerful. She raised an important point about enabling disabled children to develop their employment skills and have the same opportunities as all other young people to gain work experience. She will be pleased to know that the Department for Education completely agrees with her, and it is increasing its commitment and funding to enable young people to have supported internships My hon. Friends the Members for Hitchin and Harpenden (Bim Afolami) and for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) made powerful speeches about the level of ambition that we all share to close the disability employment gap. They stressed the importance of working closely with employers on culture change, and I completely agree. We are considering the issues they raised about improving the Disability Confident scheme, although I refute what was said by the hon. Member for Battersea—this is not a failing scheme; it is a growing scheme. We are looking at what more we can do to incentivise businesses, and at publishing levels of disability employment, especially for large employers. We are also considering what more we can do to communicate the wide range of help that is available to support businesses and public sector organisations to employ disabled people. I congratulate the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) on becoming a Disability Confident employer yesterday. He said how important it is that people feel confident enough to disclose their disability and for employers to feel confident in hearing that news, and he asked how we can work together to ensure that happens. Financial support is available to a disabled person through the Access to Work programme, as well as to employers who employ them I assure the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Drew Hendry) that each and every year we increase our investment in benefits for disabled people and those with health conditions. This year alone we are spending more than £50 billion—more than the defence budget—and I am proud to be part of a Government who prioritise supporting disabled people. That is an increase of £7 billion since 2010. We are determined continuously to improve the processes and operation of the system that administers our disability benefits.