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The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP

MP for North Shropshire

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Coronavirus: Disabled Welfare

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Thank you for contacting me about the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on people with disabilities and for bringing Scope’s Disability Report to my attention.

Guidance for the extremely clinically vulnerable is that shielding has been paused. However, people who have been shielding will still be able to receive priority slots for supermarket deliveries, as well as prescriptions, essential items and food you buy delivered by NHS Volunteer Responders. Do contact Shropshire Council if you need local volunteer support.

Regarding welfare, the Government acted quickly at the peak of the crisis to suspend all face-to-face assessments for health and disability-related benefits while also extending award periods, giving people peace of mind that their benefit payments would continue. Ministers are protecting the health of individuals claiming these benefits, many of whom are likely to be at greater risk of severe Coronavirus symptoms due to their pre-existing health conditions.

Measures in the Coronavirus Act are temporary and proportionate to the threat we face. It is important that they will only be used when strictly necessary and will only be in place for as long as required to respond to the public health emergency. Local authorities are still expected to do as much as they can to comply with their duties to meet needs during this period, and the legislation does not remove the duty of care towards an individual's risk of serious neglect or harm. The legislation must not be used as cover for negating basic duties.

As you point out, the National Strategy for Disabled people is a key opportunity to enact changes that really makes a difference to people with disabilities. There is exciting work underway between government, disability charities and businesses to produce practical measures that will transform the daily lives of people with disabilities and ensure they can fully participate in society. The strategy will be ambitious and will support people with disabilities in all aspects and phases of life.

The National Strategy for Disabled People will put fairness at the heart of government, levelling up opportunities for people with disabilities. Importantly, while it will build on evidence and data, it will also be based on insights from people’s daily experiences. The strategy will include existing commitments, like the increase in special educational needs and disability funding and careers advice, as well as identifying areas where further improvement is required.

There are also opportunities for positive change. The way many of us work has, for example, changed. Normalising working from home and other adjustments is one way we can emerge from this into a world which better embraces people with disabilities. 

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

 

Campaign Responses

  • Asylum accommodation 22/02/2021
  • Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill 22/02/2021
  • Dementia and Coronavirus 08/02/21
  • Neonicotinoids 05/02/21
  • FFP3 Masks 02/02/21
  • Trade Deals 19/1/21
  • CAMRA Save Our Pubs Campaign
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffee and Anoosheh Ashoori
  • Coronavirus: Closed Churches
  • Planning Reform
  • British Heart Foundation and Medical Research Charities
  • Free School Meals 27/10/2020
  • Immigration Bill: Family Reunion
  • Women and Equal Pay
  • MPs' Pay
  • Shelter's 'Building Our Way Out' Report
  • Immigration Detention Time Limit
  • Coronavirus: Maternity Care
  • 'Fire and Rehire' Tactics
  • Agriculture Bill: Animal Welfare and Trade
  • Breast Cancer
  • Coronavirus: Disabled Welfare
  • EU Negotiations
  • Coronavirus: Household Debt
  • Asylum Seekers Support and Employment
  • NHS Pay Rise
  • Global Wildlife Trade Ban
  • Protecting Girls in Crisis
  • Extension of Covid-19 Support Schemes
  • Fuel Duty
  • Medical Cannabis: Epilepsy
  • Proportional Property Tax Proposal
  • Israel: Peace Agreements
  • Coronavirus: Public Test and Trace
  • Air Quality
  • Pet Microchipping
  • Green Recovery
  • Pancreatic Cancer's No Time to Wait Campaign
  • Children's Health
  • Overseas Operations Bill
  • Asylum Support Payments
  • Internal Market Bill
  • Coronavirus: Vulnerable Christians
  • Wellbeing and Counselling in Schools
  • Disposable BBQs
  • Domestic Abuse Bill
  • Coronavirus: Ovarian Cancer
  • General Practice
  • Humanist Marriages
  • Adult Social Care
  • Sustainable Fishing - Super Trawlers
  • Coronavirus: Mental Health
  • Arthritis
  • Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanisms
  • Eco-Friendly Education Buildings
  • Legal Aid
  • Wildlife Licensing
  • Trade Deals
  • Persecution of Christians
  • Coronavirus: Travel Industry
  • Heat Pumps
  • Yemen
  • Low Income Countries: Debt Cancellation
  • EDM 529
  • Rough Sleeping
  • Coronavirus: Performing Arts
  • Black Curriculum
  • Coronavirus: Clinically Vulnerable Returning to Work
  • British Food Production Standards
  • FCO and DfID Merger
  • Mental Health: Face to Face Assessments
  • Coronavirus: Government backing for business
  • George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and export controls
  • Immigration Bill
  • Radiotherapy Services
  • PPE: Health and Social Care
  • Road Speed Limits
  • Fur Free Britain Campaign
  • Coronavirus: Asylum Support Payments
  • Israel the West Bank
  • 'No Recourse to Public Funds' Campaign
  • Trade Bill - US Free Trade Agreement
  • Illegal Wildlife Trade - EDM139
  • Trophy Hunting - EDM50
  • Environment Bill: OEP
  • Coronavirus: Free School Meals
  • Coronavirus: Trussell Trust's Proposed Emergency Income Support Scheme
  • Coronavirus: Abortion
  • Coronavirus: Childcare and Childminders
  • Environment Bill: Air Quality
  • Windrush Report
  • Universities and Antisemitism
  • Immigration Points System
  • EDM57 - Regulation of Social Networks
  • Coronavirus: Motor Nurone Disease
  • Horseracing: use of the whip
  • EDM 291 - Ban on war experiments on animals
  • Coronavirus: Iran Sanctions
  • Dementia Care
  • Agriculture Bill: Animal Welfare and Food Safety
  • Northern Ireland Abortion Framework
  • Animal Cruelty Sentencing
  • Gamebird Welfare
  • My letter to constituents regarding Government financial support for airlines
  • Voter ID
  • Brexit update 10th October 2019
  • 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration
  • Adults with eating disorders
  • Cycling and Walking
  • TV licence for over-75s
  • "People's Vote"
  • Arms to Saudi Arabia
  • Tax Cuts
  • Affordable Housing
  • Earthquakes and Fracking
  • Probate Fees
  • My letter to Constituents regarding the suspension of Parliament
  • Consumer Credit and "rip off loans"
  • Trafficked children
  • Trophy Hunting
  • Immigration Bill and the NHS
  • NHS Long Term Plan
  • Puppy Smuggling
  • Assisted Dying event 11th December
  • Caging of pheasants and partridges
  • Beer Duty
  • Sex-selective abortion
  • Dying at Home
  • Rohingya Children
  • Footpaths
  • BBC impartiality
  • Defend Israel
  • Ban Al Quds and Hezbollah
  • Stand Up for Nature
  • Communities vs Blood Cancer
  • Homelessness
  • Horses on the road
  • Horse tethering
  • Fracking
  • Offensive Weapons Bill and shop workers
  • Royal Commission on Policing
  • FIxed Odds Betting Terminals
  • DVLA and diabetes monitoring technology
  • Future trade deals
  • Housing Regulator
  • Stop Christophobia campaign 21/05/19
  • The Abuse of Children and Civilians by Hamas
  • Live Exports
  • Cost of Medicines
  • Plastic pollution in UK rivers
  • Eating disorders
  • Forced abortion
  • Cancer Treatment - Coronavirus

Owen Paterson MP MP for North Shropshire

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