Contributions
1,146 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAccess to Work AssessmentsThe average timescale for an Access to Work application decision in April 2024 was 43.9 days. We have increased the staff on applications, redeploying 95 staff from wider DWP…13 May 2024HANSARDAccess to Work AssessmentsI am disappointed not to be enough of a bragger in this House, but I am very pleased that we are taking time to make sure that the tailored support is correct. We are working…13 May 2024HANSARDPeople with Autism: EmploymentWe are continuing to run programmes to support autistic people into employment, including local supported employment, Disability Confident and Access to Work. The Department for…13 May 2024HANSARDPeople with Autism: EmploymentI thank my hon. Friend for bringing to the attention of the House the important initiatives going on in his patch in Darlington. Such local programmes have a huge impact in…13 May 2024HANSARDPeople with Autism: EmploymentThe hon. Gentleman and the Minister for Employment, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), are linking together on this. We have specialist SWAPs for people…13 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI have already met the chair of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council in my role as the Minister for Disabled People, and I will continue to engage on whatever is required. To…13 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsI welcome my hon. Friend’s interest in WorkWell, which is a significant intervention. I am not sure about the Secretary of State’s diary or mine, but we are keen to meet and to…13 May 2024HANSARDTopical QuestionsDiolch yn fawr to the team in Ynys Môn! We have been searching for a building for a number of years to go to the added youth offer, and I would be delighted to join my hon. Friend…13 May 2024HANSARDAccess to Work AssessmentsI thank the hon. Lady for her points. If we are trading figures, at the close of business on 7 May 2024, there were 36,721 applications awaiting decision. I remind those people…13 May 2024HANSARD Buckland Review of Autism EmploymentI thank my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South Swindon (Sir Robert Buckland) for introducing this important debate on autism employment. It is a pleasure to follow…25 Apr 2024HANSARD Buckland Review of Autism EmploymentThere have been some changes, and I have mentioned some of the updates. There is more to come, which I think the right hon. Gentleman will be interested in and will welcome, if he…25 Apr 2024HANSARD Buckland Review of Autism EmploymentI thank the hon. Lady for raising that important point for all of us. My hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Nickie Aiken) mentioned the Fair Shot café in…25 Apr 2024HANSARD Buckland Review of Autism EmploymentI am absolutely looking at the right way forward, because for me, if someone acquires a disability, we need to be looking at how they are retained in work and whether they have a…25 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceI thank the hon. Lady for making that point. The right hon. Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms) took us back nearly two decades to 2008, the year that he was Minister of State…22 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Cummins. It is a pleasure to respond to what has been a slightly protracted, wide-ranging e-petition debate. I thank the…22 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceI was just coming on to overpayments and what has been in the press. I am not the Minister leading on the fraud side of the policy, but we will discuss that on Wednesday. I am…22 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceThat was characteristically put; I thank the hon. Lady very much. The Work and Pensions Committee Chair made the point about having an open mind about this policy, and hopefully I…22 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceI will take that point away. I am keen to explain more about the National Audit Office and the wider reports on Wednesday; it is quite complicated for this particular arena. The…22 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceI will try to answer the point of the right hon. Member for East Ham. There is a need to balance the duty to recover overpayments with safeguards to manage repayments suitably.…22 Apr 2024HANSARDCarer’s AllowanceYes, indeed. I was supportive of that myself, attending where possible to support that legislation going through. The Government absolutely welcome the cross-party work the hon.…22 Apr 2024