Written questions by Cordova.

What steps his Department plans to take to help tackle barriers to the safe use of medical devices for the management of diabetes among partially sighted and blind people.

The Department and the National Health Service work with suppliers and manufacturers to help improve the accessibility and safe use of medical devices for the management of diabetes among partially sighted and blind people. It is recommended to suppliers that people with experience of visual and hearing impairment should be included and considered in the design of insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors, and hybrid closed loop systems, as well as in the user information and instructions that accompany their supply and use.Suppliers of the hybrid closed loop must provide educational materials appropriate for those who are visually impaired, and commissioning recommendations for blood glucose, ketone meters, testing strips, and lancets include recommendations for cohorts of the population, including the visually impaired. These commissioning recommendations are available at the following link:PRN00037-v3-commissioning-recommendations-following-the-national-assessment-of-blood-glucose-and-ketone-meters.pdfFinally, the Department is in the process of modernising the listing of medical devices on the NHS Drug Tariff to further improve access by building in incentives for suppliers for cohorts of the population, such as partially sighted and blind people, who need added features.

If his Department will consult with blind and partially sighted patients on potential accessibility improvements to the NHS App.

We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Patients unable to use digital channels can continue to access services via telephone and through traditional face to face services.We conduct user research on an ongoing basis with users from diverse backgrounds to ensure our service works for everyone. This includes patients with a range of access needs and diverse groups, for instance ethnic minority groups, those with visual impairments, neurodiversity, and physical impairments. We have recruited users who are blind or partially sighted in community-based research, research with local National Health Service teams, and in remote research, either one to one or in groups. We use the findings of user research to plan and prioritise new work to improve accessibility.Centrally built services, such as the NHS App and NHS website, are designed to meet international accessibility standards. We are modernising the mobile patient experience within the NHS App, ensuring information is clearly structured and easy to find and understand.

What steps he is taking to help ensure accountability for the killing of Agnes Wanjiru.

The Secretary of State visited Kenya in April to meet with the family of Agnes Wanjiru, and reaffirmed his personal commitment to securing justice following her tragic death over 13 years ago. The jurisdiction for this investigation lies with the National Police Service, Kenya, therefore all enquiries on the progress of the ongoing investigation should be directed to them. The UK’s Defence Serious Crime Command are proactively engaged with the Kenyan police in support of their investigation where appropriate. In order to protect the integrity of that investigation and in the interests of justice, it would be inappropriate to comment further.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 32209 on Health and Care Act 2022, when he expects the Accessible Information Standard to (a) be published and (b) become mandatory.

NHS England is working to support implementation of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the National Health Service are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services. The revised standards are expected to be published in summer 2025. In the meantime, the current AIS remains in force and public health and adult social care providers will continue to have due regard for it. As part of new arrangements that will make information standards mandatory, following the commencement of regulations made under the Health and Care Act 2022, we intend to introduce mandatory information standards in a staged process. The Department and NHS England are considering what will be the first standards to be adopted under this process. To ensure a frictionless transition from the existing information standards system to the new process for mandatory information standards, information standards made under the existing system will continue to have effect until they have been revoked, have expired, or have met the new procedural requirements and therefore become mandatory.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help support leaseholders living in buildings under 11 meters with cladding remediation works.

The responsibility for fixing historical cladding fire safety defects should rest with building owners. They should not pass these costs on to leaseholders but should seek to recover costs from those who were responsible for building unsafe homes. The department reviews cases brought to its attention which includes engaging freeholders and managing agents to make sure that proposed works are necessary and proportionate.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34309, when he last raised the destruction of (a) schools and (b) higher education facilities in Gaza with his Israeli counterparts.

The Foreign Secretary continues to raise concern at continued Israeli operations in Gaza, including the need for protection of schools and higher education facilities, with his Israeli counterparts. Children's access to education must continue uninterrupted. The UK Government have announced £41 million for United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) this financial year, which is supporting the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Palestinian refugees in the region. Furthermore, UK support has given 14,000 children access to education materials and welfare support.In East Jerusalem the Israeli order to close schools and the immediate evacuation of the Kalandia Training Centre is deeply worrying. The vital work of UNRWA in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March to Question 34309, what steps his Department has taken to promote accountability for attacks on schools in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by (a) Israeli forces and (b) Israeli settlers.

Education is a human right. It expands choices and enables children to live lives that they value. The vital work of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in ensuring that Palestinians have access to education and healthcare must be protected in Gaza as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Children's access to education must continue uninterrupted. The Foreign Secretary and I have also made clear our concerns about the current Israeli military operations in the West Bank and stressed the need for civilians and civilian infrastructure to be protected. We recognise Israel's security concerns, but it must show restraint and ensure its operations are commensurate to the threat posed. We are also clear that the Israeli government must crack down on settler violence, stop settlement expansion and not annex the West Bank.On 15 October 2024, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank. These measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. We continue to keep these issues under review. It would not be appropriate to speculate about any potential future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

What steps the cross-government Health Mission Board plans to take to help tackle the impact of poverty on the health of disabled people.

We have established a Health Mission Board to oversee and drive the delivery of the Health Mission. Mission Boards are Cabinet Committees. It is a long-established precedent that information about the proceedings of the Cabinet or of any committee of the Cabinet is not normally shared publicly; this includes mission boards.One of the key goals of the Health Mission is a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer. This includes championing the rights of disabled people. Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

What steps she is taking to increase the number of state primary schools with an onsite library.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Battersea, to the answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 27959.

What steps she is taking to encourage children to read for pleasure.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Battersea, to the answer of 11 March 2025 to Question 35717.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding data collection on libraries in schools to the school census.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Battersea, to the answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 27959.

If she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of including information on the Access to Work scheme in correspondence from HMRC to employers.

We want to support more disabled people into work and to stay in work. In doing so, we need to get the balance right between supporting employers to understand and provide reasonable adjustments as part of their legal duties, and interventions that go beyond this to enable employment.As announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we are consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme so that it better helps people to start and stay in work through reasonable adjustments and making use of assistive technology. The government will consider next steps on Access to Work following the consultation.

If she will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of assessing employers' compliance with the (a) recruitment and (b) employment of disabled people duties of the Equality Act 2010.

The Government is fully committed to the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), which protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace. The Act prohibits direct and indirect disability discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and applicants/candidates, to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their non-disabled colleagues. This could include improving access to premises for wheelchair users, through installing ramps or other auxiliary aids or services. The failure of an employer to make reasonable adjustments could amount to direct disability discrimination. However, the Act also recognises the need to strike a balance between the needs of disabled employees and the circumstances of their employers. What is ‘reasonable’ will therefore depend on the circumstances of each case. Strong legal remedies are available to employees and applicants who feel that they have experienced disability discrimination by an employer. Guidance and codes of practice have been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Acas, to help employers follow the law and employees and applicants understand their rights.

What estimate her Department has made of the number of Disability Confident scheme employers employing at least one disabled person.

Employers at level 2 and level 3 of the Disability Confident scheme are asked if they employ disabled people at the point of applying for or renewing their membership at these levels. Organisations applying for or renewing at level 2 have only been asked whether they employ disabled people since the 20th of February 2024. Organisations applying for or renewing at level 1 are not asked to provide this information.As of the 1st April 2025, the data collected shows that, of all employers asked this question (2,454 employers in total), the majority (91%) reported they do employ disabled people. Less than one percent of employers said they do not employ disabled people, and 9 percent did not respond or did not know. Due to the specific and self-reported nature of the management information collected, it may not provide an accurate reflection of the employment of disabled people across all Disability Confident members and should therefore be treated with caution.In 2022, the Department commissioned a survey of Disability Confident members. Respondents included employers who were members at level 1, 2 and 3 of the scheme. The survey found that nearly two-thirds (63%) of employers reported having recruited at least one disabled employee or an employee who had a long-term health condition, since joining the Disability Confident scheme. More detail on this question can be accessed in the survey report on gov.uk using the following link: Disability Confident: survey of participating employers, May 2022 - GOV.UK

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of helping blind and partially sighted people by extending the Access to Work scheme to formal volunteering placements.

Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in paid employment. We recognise the important role that volunteering, and other programmes can play in securing employment, and DWP provides support for individuals participating in supported internships and applicable apprenticeships and traineeships. There are no plans to extend Access to Work to those on formal volunteering placements. In March 2025, we published the Pathways to Work Green Paper, to consult on the future of Access to Work. We are considering the role of employers in creating accessible and inclusive workplaces, as well as the future of assistive technology.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing sight loss training for (a) Access to Work advisors and (b) Jobcentre Plus staff.

As part of staff on-boarding and induction into DWP, staff complete learning for customers with sight loss. The learning provides the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, and an overview of the support available to customers including the challenges that individuals with sight loss may face. Work coaches in Jobcentres also have a point of needs learning products, allowing them to support blind and visually impaired customers. Access to Work support workers undergo learning which provides details of the funding that is available to support customers with sight loss. This includes the funding of lenses, colour tests and tinted glasses for health conditions, such as Irlens Syndrome (not for general sight loss) when a prescription is given from an optometrist for corrective vision.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to enforce minimum Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA.

For central government services, departments are required by the Government Service Standard to meet the minimum of level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 (which is the current version) for services that are in public beta or live.Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations require most public sector organisations to ensure their services, websites, published documents, intranets, extranets and apps are accessible to disabled people by meeting the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.2 to level AA and by publishing a prescribed format accessibility statement.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of including specific provision for blind and partially sighted young people in the National Careers Service.

The National Careers Service is a free, universal, government-funded careers information, advice and guidance service for everyone aged 13 and above in England.All young people aged 13 to 18 can access information and advice through the webchat and telephone helpline, which are supported by local community-based careers advisers. This support from the National Careers Service supplements the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance by schools and colleges.The department regularly reviews the accessibility of the National Careers Service website to ensure it continues to meet the needs of all users, including those with visual impairments. The service is committed to making its website accessible for all users, in accordance with accessibility regulations. This includes ensuring users are able to listen to most of the website using a screen reader. An up-to-date version of the accessibility statement is available online.Young adults aged 19 years and over, or aged 18 for those who are not in education, employment or training, can also access the service via face-to-face support from community-based careers advisers.Adults with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are one of the priority groups for the service. They can access in-depth, tailored support from professionally qualified careers advisers, drawing on localised labour market information, including face-to-face support, information and advice through webchat, telephone helpline and website.The National Careers Service has worked with the Thomas Pocklington Trust to offer advice to careers practitioners relating to the Trust’s work to improve the opportunities of blind and partially sighted people.As outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, Jobcentre Plus will be brought together with the National Careers Service in England, to create a new Jobs and Careers Service, transforming the experience for all users. Accessibility for all, including blind or partially sighted customers, will continue to be a priority.

What discussions she has had with the RNIB on its report entitled Access to Work - Cost benefit analysis, published on 5 September 2015, in the context of her Department's consultation on its Green Paper on Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 26 March 2025.

Since 2015, the style, scope and cost of support that disabled people require has changed significantly, as has the labour market, yet Access to Work has stayed broadly the same. We believe there is a strong case for looking at the future role and purpose of Access to Work, given the significant operational challenges it faces, its limited reach (it only supports around 1% of the working disabled population) and rising costs. We want to improve accessibility and support more disabled people into work and think Access to Work has a significant role in this. In March 2025, the Pathways to Work Green paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work, and we are keen to hear the views and voices of disabled people and representative organisations, such as RNIB. We will consider all evidence during the review of Access to Work.

What assessment he makes of the effectiveness of safeguards to protect tenants from (a) rent increases and (b) evictions following upgrades to Energy Performance ratings by landlords.

The Government launched a consultation on improving minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector on 7th February 2025. The Government is committed to protecting and improving the rights of tenants. The Renters’ Rights Bill will put in place new regulations to protect tenants. This includes providing stronger protections to ensure that tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents, abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’, and moving to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic. These measures provide more security for tenants and enable them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases without fear of eviction.