← LEADERSHIP TERMINAL

UK PARLIAMENT · SITTING

Mims Davies

MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield · Conservative · United Kingdom

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

She had previously worked with disabled young adults, helping them into work and helping them to thrive. As someone who previously had the honour of being the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, I roundly appreciate that some of our most vulnerable often feel under-acknowledged, undervalued, unheard and screened out of life and…

TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (END OF LIFE) BILL · 2026-09-11 · READ IN HANSARD

Let me make some progress. I have four main concerns: funding, the assessment process, the lack of institutional opt-outs and, crucially, the auto-commencement clause. Can we all look our local NHS teams in the eye, knowing that we are ultimately taking more resources from them?

TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (END OF LIFE) BILL · 2026-09-11 · READ IN HANSARD

Punches were thrown and he fell and hit his head on the kerb. He was saved by a passing man on his lunch break with first aid training. I was 11. Dad did not recognise us for several months. The financial impact was that we eventually lost our home, our family business and the surety that his hard work had given us.

TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (END OF LIFE) BILL · 2026-09-11 · READ IN HANSARD

It is a truth that the death of a loved one, and our own inevitable decline, can sometimes arrive with real fear, real pain and, sadly, too much unnecessary and unsupported suffering, but it does come to us all.

TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (END OF LIFE) BILL · 2026-09-11 · READ IN HANSARD

I have read the many briefings sent to me by charities, organisations, groups and representatives from right across our society. I have heard, too, from 1,000 or so of my constituents, who I thank deeply for sharing their own stories and thoughts.

TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (END OF LIFE) BILL · 2026-09-11 · READ IN HANSARD

We are being asked to send this Bill back to the other place and perhaps to use the Parliament Act to force it through, regardless of its fitness for purpose and with full knowledge of its flaws and lack of workability, just to get it done. However, that means we are not listening even to the doctors who have spoken in this place today.

TERMINALLY ILL ADULTS (END OF LIFE) BILL · 2026-09-11 · READ IN HANSARD

The complete record

Every one of 600 lines we hold for Mims Davies, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 11 of 12.

  1. I thank my hon. Friend. She is absolutely right: I have had conversations in my own district of Mid Sussex about supporting diversification in the rural economy. If things were changing on the high street, they would be supported; if they are in a rural business, they are blocked. I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I hope that the Minister is listening, although it seems that his party is not here to listen. I thank hon. Members here from the other parties, who are keenly supporting their own constituents too. As I said, this is hardly a recipe for growth, let alone stability. A farming conference is coming up shortly at the South of England showground in Ardingly in my constituency, and that will be vital to business. Sponsorship in support of that has been absolutely key.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  2. Ministers should be truly working across Government to make sure that the next five years are a success for all our communities and constituencies, so that we have the public services and local economies that we are all striving for and aspire to.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  3. The national interest demands that the Government get a grip so that they can unleash the investment through the summit, spur economic growth, deliver those local jobs and live up to the promises that they have made to the British people. Otherwise, we are in for a long and costly five years. In closing, I ask the Minister to reassure my businesses and our communities that the Government truly understand the impact of instability. What action will the Government take about Crawley college, for example? Unfortunately, it is shutting down engineering places as we strive for the new future. That concerns me because many businesses in East Grinstead and beyond need such engineering and apprenticeship places to support their future.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  4. I say to Ministers that they speak not only for their Departments but for industry and sectors. They would do well to stop walking around with placards and remember that they are, allegedly, running the country. I appreciate that the Prime Minister is new, and collective responsibility among Ministers is a cornerstone of Cabinet government. I am sure that this Minister will be working diligently to do what he can to support that. I was a Minister for a number of years—I was Employment Minister during the covid years—and I know how difficult it is. I genuinely wish Ministers well. Holding this debate today and being really honest about businesses’ and our constituents’ concerns has meant that the issues have been aired and heard.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  5. Of particular concern is the cost imposed on small businesses. The Federation of Small Businesses is leading the charge on that, warning that small businesses will be looking at the changes with trepidation. The Government have only just managed to meet their self-imposed target of 100 days. They have left 70 measures to come in for 2026, meaning that uncertainty for businesses involved will carry on. That is a real concern. Comments from Ministers over the past few weeks have caused chaos. First, the Leader of the House stated that there would have been a real risk of a run on the pound if the Government had not withdrawn winter fuel support from our pensioners; in the meantime, the Prime Minister had to disavow the Transport Secretary’s comments, stating that she did not speak for the Government.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  6. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, about his community and the local economy in Northern Ireland. This matters so much. These people are stridently working to earn wages every week—not only for themselves, but for their sectors, families and communities. I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point about the online challenge, which is gargantuan. It is absolutely right for us to seek to future-proof many of these businesses, which have been going for decades. It is difficult to start a business, let alone maintain one. If we let businesses fail because we do not support them for the future, we will look back in real horror. Senior businesses, let alone small businesses, are already warning that the employment package announced last week will limit investment and reduce growth and jobs in years to come.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  7. I thank the Minister for his response and will welcome him with gusto to the “Taste of East Grinstead and Uckfield” event. I will forgive his amnesia about the national insurance contribution cuts, the changes that the Conservative Government made to VAT registration, the support that we gave SMEs, and the Help to Grow portal. I thank all hon. Members for their support in this debate about business confidence, and I implore this Government, in their Budget, to give the country the stability that we need, because if there is a further jobs tax, it will have to be matched by people paying it in the public sector. Question put and agreed to . Resolved , That this House has considered business confidence.

    BUSINESS CONFIDENCE · 2024-10-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  8. I welcome the ministerial team to their places. The Conservative Government launched the £100 million violence against women and girls strategy in our determination to make our streets safer for women and girls. It involved creating a new 24/7 sexual assault helpline, transport safety champions and a £5 million safety of women at night fund. Why does this Labour Government feel that setting a target of merely halving violence against women and girls is a suitable ambition? Surely nothing but targeting the total eradication of this horrific criminality, whether in the home or on the streets, is enough.

    VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS · 2024-10-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  9. The Conservative Government introduced the hugely successful opt-out HIV and hepatitis testing programme for A&Es in London, Brighton, Blackpool and Manchester, with a £20 million commitment to expand the programme to 33 more, diagnosing more than 1,300 people with HIV in the first two years and tackling health inequalities. This has meant, crucially, that more LGBT+ people, women, people of black African ethnicity and older people have been diagnosed and supported. Will the Minister assure the House that the funding and commitment will remain?

    TOPICAL QUESTIONS · 2024-10-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  10. Nobody here is not interested in a positive educational experience for all children in all our constituencies, in all establishments. My own youngsters have enjoyed brilliant learning in both private and state schools, while one is currently in an independent school. Would my hon. Friend agree that the heart of this policy of bringing in taxation on education is stoking division, creating harm to aspiration, and stopping the sharing of facilities and opportunity? It is exemplified by the Education Secretary’s proclamation on social media. Despite the impact on jobs and community harm, the Government still want to introduce this policy.

    INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS: VAT AND BUSINESS RATES EXEMPTIONS · 2024-10-08 · READ IN HANSARD

  11. My youngsters have had a mix of excellent learning, including in nursery and in state education, as have youngsters in many families. I have a personal and constituency interest in wanting all education settings to thrive, so I agree with my right hon. Friend. The economic and employment impact of this new tax will be devastating for bus drivers and maintenance teams. It will impact on so many livelihoods and communities. The people picking up the unknown impact will be in the state sector. The policy will just deliver more of the unknown.

    VAT: INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS · 2024-10-08 · READ IN HANSARD

  12. I thank the Minister for kindly giving way. This policy will have an economic impact in each and every constituency: on librarians, on maintenance people and on those who work in labs, in catering and as minibus drivers—everything that is predicated on schools such as the ones we are discussing. Will the impact assessment and the Treasury look at the wider implications for employment?

    VAT: INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS · 2024-10-08 · READ IN HANSARD

  13. The well-received and groundbreaking Buckland review of autism employment focused on the action needed to help to tackle the lack of opportunities and outdated recruitment practices that do not meet the employment needs of autistic people. How is the Minister—I welcome him to his place—going to use this review, which I seem to remember him welcoming, to tackle the lack of understanding and ongoing stereotypes to help to make real change via Access to Work and other DWP interventions?

    VULNERABLE PEOPLE: SUPPORT INTO WORK · 2024-10-07 · READ IN HANSARD

  14. I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that answer. The disability action plan mid-year update is now somewhat overdue. Can the Minister confirm to the House when there will be a much-needed update? In helping vulnerable people to thrive in all walks of life, whether in employment or in respect of equality of opportunity, will the Minister’s Government commit, like the previous Conservative Government did, to working towards hosting the 2031 Special Olympics?

    VULNERABLE PEOPLE: SUPPORT INTO WORK · 2024-10-07 · READ IN HANSARD

  15. Jobcentres are extremely good, as we just heard from the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier), who is leaving the Chamber. Yet the new Minister for Employment previously described jobcentres as places nobody wants to go, and claimed that they do not offer real help. Our jobcentres help to ensure that almost 4 million more people have work, compared with when her party left office in 2010. More than 2 million of those employed are women. Will the Minister and the DWP team who have made disparaging remarks apologise to work coaches and DWP staff, who she and they have rubbished but who now have to look up to them as the new ministerial team?

    JOBCENTRE PLUS · 2024-10-07 · READ IN HANSARD

  16. I thank those who daily work in NHS services across our country. If the Secretary of State is truly serious about assisting and supporting the whole of our NHS in England, across all our constituencies, “warts and all”, as he says, will he explain thoroughly why the health outcomes and experiences of families across Wales, over the last 25 years, do not merit this attention equally? Is it perhaps because Wales is Labour-run?

    NHS: INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  17. On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. We are all passionate about our hospices, our hospitals, our GP practices and the other health services that our constituents get. Coming to this place is not for the faint-hearted, but is it appropriate for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to adopt the tone that he brought to the Chamber earlier? As I say, we are all passionate, but perhaps his tone—his bedside manner, may I say—needs a new approach on occasion. I noted his more collegial tone later in the statement, but to tell Opposition hon. Members—we are all hon. Members in this place—to sit down and listen, or to liken some previous holders of his role to arsonists and similar paraphernalia, is not befitting of this Chamber.

    POINTS OF ORDER · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  18. He always stuck up for commuters and for casework being of the highest order. We all seek to continue in his fine tradition of standing up for those who go to work, work hard and live in our constituencies. If we are lucky enough to be sent here, a legacy such as his—like that of Sir David—is one that we aspire to.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  19. They work hard to support many rural residents in an area where poverty is not seen and noticed as it is in other areas. Burgess Hill academy, Blackthorns community primary academy and Lindfield primary academy are having a particular issue with general annual grant pooling by the University of Brighton Academies Trust. Some 14 schools are part of that group, and those local schools are seeing an impact on their day-to-day budgets. I implore the Government and the trust to work with local MPs to make sure that the support that is being given for pupils actually lands in the laps of teachers and students. That worries me greatly. Finally, I pay tribute to my predecessor, Sir Nicholas Soames. He called me “Mimsey” and his constituent. He was supportive, bombastic, warm and strident.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  20. As the Government look to charge VAT on fees for independent schools, I ask that they consider the impact on children without EHCPs who are being supported in independent schools. A significant proportion of pupils in my constituency attend independent schools, and parents are very worried about the impact of any changes on their children. What happens going forward must be fair to all children. Turning to some positives, I recently attended the Queen Victoria hospital and the planting of a maple tree to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Canadian wing and the work of the plastic surgeons in the town that doesn’t stare. I thank the team who welcomed me recently to the citizens advice bureau in Uckfield, which is a wonderful town.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  21. These problems are getting on constituents’ nerves, so we need to tackle them. There are some amazing local businesses in my constituency. Tim Haynes is a second-generation florist in Pease Pottage and serves his customers diligently. As in many communities, many of our businesses are small, rural and family-led, and they include farming. The hon. Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) said that fine words and fine foods are not the same when it comes to farming, and we must make sure that we back our farmers again this week. I have correspondence in my inbox about education, health and care plans; SEND provision; and special school places. This is a very difficult area for many of my constituents, and we face increasing diagnoses and challenges.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  22. If we are to talk about assisted dying, we also need to talk about dying well and living well, and I urge the Government to look at hospice funding in the wider discussion about the NHS that we have had today. Uckfield hospital needs further support and my local GP services, which are run by Modality, are struggling in Crawley Down, East Grinstead and parts of Burgess Hill, as they are elsewhere. Indeed, I have heard in the last few weeks that the Balcombe surgery needs further support. Our local GPs do a fabulous job, and it is important that we support them in the wider NHS. Roads and potholes have been perennial issues in my inbox; I am sure that new Members have found the same. We have issues with traffic lights, queues and Royal Mail deliveries in Slaugham, Pease Pottage and Uckfield.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  23. I am the first Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield. Parts of my constituency were previously in the Horsham constituency, which the right honourable Sir Jeremy Quin represented, and in the Lewes constituency, which Maria Caulfield represented. Both were assiduous Members of Parliament who were dedicated to causes and very effective. I feel the pressure of following in their footsteps in my constituency, which is very rural. It has parts of Lewes and Wealden, and 50% or thereabouts of the Mid Sussex district. I wish the new hon. Member for Mid Sussex (Alison Bennett) well; we have already been working together on several issues. Today she raised the issue of hospice funding, which St Catherine’s hospice in Pease Pottage is particularly struggling with, as is St Peter & St James hospice in North Chailey.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  24. Friend the Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed), have made moving contributions. The new hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) is clearly a champion of carers, and he talked about disability. I have enjoyed listening to everyone’s speeches this afternoon. Many of us are not new Members, but we are new to parts of our constituencies, and it is right that we gallop around our constituencies in the way that Sir David Amess did, so that you are happy with us, Madam Deputy Speaker. I shall try to do that in the finest of his traditions. One thing I share with Sir David Amess is that I have owned a Westminster dog of the year; in fact, the reigning Westminster dog of the year. I have given back the trophy, and the battle will be back on—it is TJ’s trophy right now.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  25. It is a great honour to be called to speak in the Sir David Amess adjournment debate. Let me first refer Members to my registered interests before I make some points about my constituency. There have been many maiden speeches this afternoon—the greatest tradition of the House—and I congratulate the new hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tristan Osborne). Following Dame Tracey Crouch is no mean feat—I have done that in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. I have appeared on the media with the hon. Gentleman, and he will do very well for his constituents. We also heard from the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), who talked about vets and about dementia. He spoke about some very personal issues in front of his family, which is to be applauded. All Members, including our new action man, my hon.

    SIR DAVID AMESS ADJOURNMENT DEBATE · 2024-09-12 · READ IN HANSARD

  26. To dress up this measure under the cloak of financial necessity is staggering. It is a costly mistake from the Treasury under the Labour Chancellor that the DWP will have to shoulder, moving staff swiftly to cover the incoming impact of those applying for pension credit. What about those who had planned to pay for their pre-Christmas tank of off-grid oil with their £300 of expected support? The demand surge for pension credit must be met in both cost and delivery, and DWP Ministers will be scratching their heads about where the resource will come from for the reported surge in pension credit applications.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  27. No charity or group fully backs this measure, given the timescales and its cack-handed and draconian delivery. The Government can bluster and say with the faux anger we heard earlier that they have been acting with the hand they were given. They can say that they simply had no choice and that this was a necessity due to the fantasy inheritance they were allegedly left. Let us look at the facts. UK unemployment sits at 4.1%, sterling is up against the dollar and growth is outpacing inflation. Despite some loyal speeches from new Government Members and passionate speeches from all around the Chamber, Labour Members know—many of them were blank, mute, absent or perhaps even stunned—that Ministers are targeting our pensioners with so little notice. As the nights draw in, higher winter fuel bills loom.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  28. I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the hon. Member for Wycombe (Emma Reynolds), to her place and wish her well. It is a pleasure to close the debate on behalf of His Majesty’s official Opposition, but sadly that is where any pleasure at being at this Dispatch Box on this matter ends. We have debated a clear and stark choice made by the new Labour Government, the Prime Minister and his “This black hole is what made me do it” Chancellor. It is a patently poor political choice that is wrong-headed and frankly a disgrace. It is a blatant choice for union paymasters while axing key support for 10 million pensioners. It is a reward for Labour’s funders. None of that was in the manifesto or on election leaflets—it is pure subterfuge and hoodwinking.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  29. They are Valerie and June, and thousands of others in every community and constituency. They are proud pensioners, who too often go without but do not tell others that they are. Again this winter, they will go without for others. This is horrific. It is a blight on this new Government. It is not right for this to happen to pensioners on their watch. It is their choice. I ask that hon. Members and Ministers do the right thing and stop this callous cut now.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  30. It will be in the darkness and the cold in the small hours that women and men who have served this country and supported families and communities will be lying awake worried, fretting and feeling afraid. For those who are frail and living with a disability or a health condition, warmth matters to their health, Loneliness, isolation and worry will eat away at them, because they cannot take a job or do some extra hours to help make ends meet. Medics have warned that this will have serious health threats, as has Age UK. Pensioners on low incomes matter. They truly are the people who know how to budget. They are the people who eke out and work out their finances. Nobody will work out how this new Labour Government of service has targeted those people so shamefully this autumn. Those families will not forget. They are not statistics.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  31. My constituent Valerie from East Grinstead wrote to me—one of almost 20,000 affected—and said: “I am 80 years old and live on a State Pension of less than £11k, not the…£13k that I keep reading about… I don’t know who gets that much but I certainly don’t!” She goes on to say that it will be “a long, cold winter… please do what you can to get this dreadful decision reversed.” Labour Members could join us in the Lobby to back pensioners like Valerie. The Opposition welcome the household support fund extension and the commitment to the Conservatives’ triple lock, but we knew going into winter, with energy bills going up, that the right thing to do was to help with cost of living payments. In my experience as an MP and a Minister, I know that the worries and responsibilities of this job come to all Members in the dead of night.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  32. Government Members will troop through the Lobby again, as fodder for an out-of-touch Prime Minister, or they may abstain to avoid the eyes of the Chancellor, deep in the hope that spraying billions of pounds on gimmicks like a shell company called GB Energy will be worth it. They must be aware that they will have to face people in their communities who will want to understand why a few millionaires were worth the attack on millions. Let us take June. She told the BBC that she will struggle to stay warm this winter. She is already planning her jumpers, cardigans and candles.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  33. I thank the hon. Gentleman for standing up for his constituents. I agree about the disproportionate and deep impact on our cold spots in Northern Ireland, rural areas, the north and Scotland. This benefit reform will not be easy. We bear the scars on the Opposition Benches from universal credit, but the change was truly worth it. As the hon. Gentleman said, what does the impact assessment actually say? Who gains, and does it stack up financially? I think we all know that it does not, else the Government would have not ignored the Social Security Advisory Committee process and its scrutiny. They would have done a proper impact assessment and a regulatory assessment, and they would not have tried to avoid a vote on the Floor of the House.

    WINTER FUEL PAYMENT · 2024-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  34. Will the Secretary of State please illuminate the House about any conflict of interest concerning the gentleman in question? Did he head into the ministerial floor or access the Department? Many of us want our constituents to access health services and GP appointments. Did the right honourable gentleman, who is the Secretary of State’s friend from the old days and with whom he has worked with previously, have a day pass or a departmental pass? Beyond the bluster, can the Secretary of State assure hon. Members that there is no conflict of interest?

    GOVERNMENT POLICY ON HEALTH · 2024-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  35. I welcome the update to the House today. We saw through the ITV series that Lord Arbuthnot, like many, was an exemplary constituency MP and something for us to all aspire to. Many campaigned for so long in this place to recognise this scandal. I congratulate Sir Alan Bates and Lady Bates on their nuptials. Can the Secretary of State assure the House that full engagement is being undertaken with the MOJ, that the learnings are being understood and that those expecting their convictions to be quashed will hear imminently, as all our constituents will want to see justice?

    POST OFFICE HORIZON: REDRESS · 2024-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  36. Growth and additional runway capacity at Gatwick is again on the agenda. My constituents who work at that airport and those who fly from there benefit from its stability and reach, but it needs to be recognised that any expansion of flights requires a careful balance between additional homes and jobs. Will the Chancellor confirm that suitable growth will not come at the expense of communities such as mine without proper consultation and acknowledgement of its impacts?

    ECONOMIC GROWTH · 2024-09-03 · READ IN HANSARD

  37. We are seeking further clarity on what we can share, so I will not discuss those negotiations further. While I do not believe an investigation is necessary, we at the Department do of course take the EHRC’s concerns seriously. We welcome the focus now provided in the terms of reference. We will work constructively with the commission in its investigation to better understand its concerns. I hope the investigation will provide a deeper insight into some of the most complex cases that the Department deals with. Of course, if any improvements are identified by the commission we will, rightly, take steps to address them.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  38. It is a pleasure to be called to the Dispatch Box to respond for the Department for Work and Pensions this morning. The Department is absolutely committed to providing services through which every customer, including disabled people and our most vulnerable claimants, can experience fair opportunity and access to our services to ensure they get the support they need. The Department has been in negotiations with the EHRC since 2021 on this matter. It is disappointing that we have not been able to come to a mutually agreeable position. As the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions stated yesterday during his Select Committee appearance, our existing legal advice and understanding is that both the EHRC and the DWP are still bound by confidentiality.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  39. Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms), will reflect on the useful evidence that was given. We have a growing number of visiting officers for some of the most vulnerable—we currently have 500—and we have 200 dedicated prison work coaches. I want anybody watching, studying or reading this urgent question to approach us and talk to us. Many people become involved with the DWP at the most challenging times of their lives. We are here to help people, whether through our youth hubs or our disability work coaches. Please tell us what is going on. We can link people to the right agencies, and we are determined to understand what the commission is thinking and feeling and to work with it.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  40. The hon. Lady will be pleased to know that I recently met the independent reviewer of the personal independence payment and benefits—there is that process in Scotland—for a mutual learning and understanding experience. Reforms that are being brought out are about disabled people’s voices being fully heard and understood, whether that is through our national disability strategy or our action plan this year. I also recently engaged with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, who covers England and Wales, and this gives me a chance to pay tribute to her. We have been trying hard to understand tragic and complex cases. Our sympathies are always with the families, and we will continue those internal process reviews. I hope that the Chairman of the Select Committee, the right hon.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  41. I agree with the hon. Lady. We have much we agree about and real mutual respect, and I know her concerns come from the heart. I reiterate that we are a compassionate Department, welcoming to all, and we are keen to get insights and learnings. I have given evidence on that, most recently to the Select Committee, making it clear that we are a learning Department focused on individuals. In fact, our trauma-informed approach is testament to that. I recently saw that in Hastings, and it is being rolled out in South Yorkshire, Plymouth and all our DWP innovation hubs to successfully drive a programme of understanding into our core business areas, including the child maintenance area and service areas. From a meeting with my DWP colleagues, I know what a big difference it makes. We engage right across the UK with a multi-agency approach.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  42. It works because when it is embedded, it is right for the bottom line of the business, the organisation and the community. It is not a “nice to do” and it is not woke; it is what we should be doing.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  43. I was looking forward to giving evidence to my right hon. Friend on many of these matters, alongside my hon. Friend the Minister for Employment. Indeed, there was work to come forward on Disability Confident, Access to Work, the disability employment goal and much more. I point my right hon. Friend to action we have taken, including just this week. There is the Government-backed lilac review on disabled entrepreneurs, which is absolutely about listening to disabled people and having them at the heart of the conversation. Fantastic engagement on British Sign Language, fully in BSL, has been at the heart of that. There has also been the PIP consultation and the wider reform conversation. We have also brought forward the Buckland review. My right hon. Friend is absolutely right about inclusion.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  44. We will continue to give them the necessary tools, and have confidence that our Department will respond in the right way to our most vulnerable customers.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  45. It has been the greatest privilege of my life to have been in the most amazing, life-changing Department for almost all of the last five years. We are fully committed to listening to our customers and their representatives about their needs, and to learning from them. Of course people will be concerned about the EHRC’s response, and the Department is genuinely disappointed, because we are constantly learning; work is ongoing to strengthen guidance and training through continuous improvement activity. Our colleagues are local people who live in their community. They know their community and what people need. Whether people are coming through the door are from a local special school, have been made redundant, or have a health condition, DWP staff know those people and want to reassure them.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  46. Let me first reflect on the Secretary of State’s appearance at the Select Committee. I reiterate that, as he said yesterday, the investigation of the Department is based on a suspicion that something has occurred; that is not in and of itself conclusive proof. The DWP rightly takes its obligations under the Equality Act 2010, including the public sector equality duty, incredibly seriously, and will continue to co-operate with the commission on its investigation. I hope that helps the hon. Lady. We want everyone in the DWP to be able to support customers in an appropriate manner, according to the individual’s needs. Our mental health training and reasonable adjustments guidance helps to empower our colleagues by giving them the skills to support every customer.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  47. Whether we are talking about the Buckland review, the lilac review on entrepreneurship, which I mentioned, or partnerships in communities, such as with Julia Nix, who is stellar leader, those messages are important for those who only hear about the experience of the DWP through the mouths of those in this House. I urge people to go and see their local jobcentre. This week there is a “recruit Britain” campaign, backed by employers, to enable people to understand our jobcentres’ power to bring about change.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  48. I welcome back my right hon. Friend, from whom I learned so much as a Parliamentary Private Secretary. It is pleasing to know that his work on neurodiversity and understanding others continues to be at the heart of what he brings to this House, even in his last few moments here. I was recently at Neurobox in Cambridge, where dyslexia needs were discussed, as well as the wider need in the labour market to learn about understanding, and helping people through, the Access to Work scheme. My right hon. Friend’s interest was mentioned there.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  49. I thank the hon. Lady for her remarks. Just this week, I met people with disabilities in the media industry who were thriving while working in ITV, which tries to help people when it comes to wider—

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD

  50. We often deal with tragic and complex cases, and our sympathies are always with the families concerned. We will continue to review and learn about processes in order to understand better why the commission is taking this action.

    DISABLED PEOPLE ON BENEFITS: EHRC INVESTIGATION · 2024-05-23 · READ IN HANSARD