What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to make it easier for people with accessibility needs to contact Government departments.

I have a constituent whose agreed adjustments have been removed and who has had appointments arranged by telephone despite a hearing impediment, and some assessment sites lack disabled parking. Does the Minister agree that adjustments must be applied consistently by Departments and contractors? What action will be taken when they are not?

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on public bodies to make reasonable adjustments, so that disabled people are not put at a disadvantage by accessibility challenges. Public service providers have to test provision regularly against the service standards, and Departments have to publish accessibility standards and provide feedback routes for users.

It is the responsibility of each government department to ensure that their communications meet the needs of the general population as appropriate.

The Public Sector Equality Duty is a general duty at Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. It requires public authorities, and private and voluntary organisations carrying out public functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people. This applies to their day-to-day work, including in delivering services.

In order to meet the Duty, Government departments routinely carry out equality assessments of policy and operational changes. These help policy makers to fully consider how decisions may affect different groups in different ways, and design their policies accordingly.

The Disability Unit within Cabinet Office has responsibility for the British Sign Language (BSL) Act 2022, which has created a greater recognition and understanding of BSL and deaf awareness.

The Act requires the government to report on what departments listed in the Act have done to promote or facilitate the use of British Sign Language in their communications with the public, and the third BSL report was published in July 2025.

In addition to overall reporting, each ministerial department has produced a 5 year BSL Plan, published alongside the third BSL report. Within these plans, many government departments have committed to including deaf awareness training for their staff and affiliated public bodies. The Cabinet Office has also committed to raise awareness of BSL and the BSL Act 2022 across the Civil Service to support other departments to deliver their BSL commitments.

Following the passage of the BSL Act, the BSL Advisory board was created to advise the Government on key issues impacting the Deaf community in their everyday life. The Board will continue to work with the BSL Advisory Board, Deaf people and their representative organisations, and with Ministers across government, including the Lead Ministers for Disability.

On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.

In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.

To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.

The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.

To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.

Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.

On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.

In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.

To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.

The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.

To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.

Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.

On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.

In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.

To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.

The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.

To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.

Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.

On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.

In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.

To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.

The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.

To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.

Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.

On 3 December 2024, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I announced new Lead Ministers for Disability in every Government department.

In addition to their day-to-day Ministerial portfolios, the Lead Ministers for Disability have a specific responsibility to break down barriers to opportunity right across the Government’s long-term missions, and to fulfil the manifesto commitment that this Government will champion the rights of disabled people and work with them so that their views and voices are at the heart of everything we do.

To do this effectively, I and my fellow Lead Ministers for Disability work together across Government and routinely engage with disabled people and those with lived experience, along with a broad range of disabled people’s organisations and other external stakeholders. Feedback I have received suggests that this engagement is well received and beneficial to all involved.

The Government does not intend to publish an annual or periodic report on the work of Lead Ministers for Disability. However, I chair regular meetings of the group throughout the year, to ensure that the needs and rights of disabled people are being properly considered and addressed across all Government departments.

To date, we have met in December 2024, March and June 2025 and are expecting to meet again in the near future.

Although we do not publish the minutes, outcomes and performance monitoring for meetings of Lead Ministers for Disability, the agendas for the meetings so far have consisted of updates from Lead Ministers for Disability on progress across their departments’ policies which particularly impact disabled people; updates on the British Sign Language Act 2022 and the requirement for Departments to develop and publish five year plans on how they will improve the use of BSL (all published in July 2025); discussion of issues relating to collection across Government of data on disability; and the Government’s intention to develop a Plan for Disability.

This Government is strongly committed to making our communications accessible and inclusive, and to reducing the barriers Deaf people face in their everyday lives.

Since we have come into power, we have endeavoured to ensure as many of the Prime Minister's speeches as possible have BSL interpretation in vision during live streams. This can be found on the Prime Minister’s social media channels - X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. Where speeches do not have political content, the interpretation is also made available afterwards on gov.uk.

I pay tribute to the outstanding work of the Government’s BSL Advisory Board. We will continue to work with them, and with other members of the Deaf community, on how we can improve further the accessibility of our communications.