Public Services Access: Disabled People
Wednesday, 11 November 2026
Contributions
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)Democratic Unionist Party
7. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that disabled people receive appropriate reasonable adjustments to allow them to access public services.
The Minister for Equalities (Sir Stephen Timms)Labour
The Equality Act 2010 places an anticipatory duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers.
I thank the Minister very much for that answer, but he will know that in Northern Ireland the disability employment gap remains, at 40.3%, the largest in the whole of the United Kingdom. Persistently low employment rates are particularly concerning following the loss of the European social fund financial support, which previously aided many employment services and disabled people in Northern Ireland. What discussions will the Minister have with the relevant Minister back home in Northern Ireland to secure sustainable replacement funding for those services, and to ensure that disabled people have the support and opportunities they need to access public services in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland?
The hon. Gentleman raises an extremely important point. The disability employment gap has been stuck at the same level across the UK pretty much since 2010. We have committed an extra £3.5 billion over this Parliament to improve employment support for disabled people and others out of work who have complex barriers. We are rolling out Connect to Work across England and Wales. I very much hope that that funding and the Barnett consequentials will enable similar improvements in Northern Ireland.
Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)Labour (Co-op)
I recently met a resident in my constituency who is blind and relies on an assistance dog to get about in his local area of Nazeing. One of the biggest challenges we face across Harlow is the problem of pavement parking and how that affects people who are partially sighted. What conversations has the Minister had with the Department for Transport to tackle pavement parking to make it easier for those who are partially sighted or blind to get around?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue. There are serious concerns for people who are partially sighted or have a sight impairment. I am in conversation on that and hope we can make some progress.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5435648.