PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Social Security Benefits: Disability (22 November 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many responses her Department received to its Health and Disability Green Paper consultation; and how many people with lived experience of the disability benefits system responded to that consultation.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

We received over 4,500 responses to the public consultation Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper.

This includes thousands of responses from individuals, many reflecting their lived experience of the disability benefits system or on behalf of people with this experience. Charities and organisations representing disabled people and people with health conditions also responded.

As almost half of the responses came via email rather than the digital platform that we used, we are unable to provide a breakdown. This is because people did not routinely provide information on whether they were responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation in their email responses.

Throughout the consultation period itself, we held more than 40 events with disabled people, people with health conditions and their representatives. These included both virtual and face-to-face events across the UK.

In the 18 months prior to the formal launch of the consultation, we ran a significant stakeholder engagement programme to ensure that the views of disabled people and their representatives shaped the content of the consultation. This saw MPs from across the political spectrum host organisations and individuals from their own constituencies.

We are very grateful to everyone who contributed to the consultation. While the formal consultation period has now ended, we will continue to engage with disabled people and people with health conditions regularly.

We are currently reviewing responses from individuals, charities and other organisations who took part in the consultation, and will respond with a White Paper next year. It would be premature to quantify support for a particular reform option.

Answered by:
Chloe Smith (Conservative)
30 November 2021