The government published  ‘Improving Lives’  in the autumn of 2016. This was described as ‘The Work, Health and Disability Green Paper’. If nothing else, it is worth reading the ministerial forward by ministers Damian Green (for the DWP) and Jeremy Hunt (for the DoH), and the Executive Summary.

The government then initiated a consultation: over 4000 organisations, charities (including Rescare) and individuals made submissions. Some of these submissions have been made public by their authors, and in recent days we have posted and tweeted links to them.

The consultation is now closed, and we now have ‘some’ information on when the government will publish its response…

In the words of minister Penny Mordaunt (Disability Minister at the DWP):  “We are now considering all that we have heard before deciding how best to move forward and want to do justice to the breadth and depth of views that have been shared with us and this will take some time”.

Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long…

This is the relevant Parliamentary Question and Written Answer, taken from this week’s Hansard reports:

Asked by Steve McCabe(Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Asked on: 06 March 2017
Department for Work and Pensions
Employment: Disability
“To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department plans to publish its response to the consultation, Improving lives, work, health and disability, published in October 2016.”
Answered by: Penny Mordaunt
Answered on: 09 March 2017

“The Work and Health Unit received over 4,000 responses to the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper Consultation from a wide range of individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions, and organisations with an interest. We are now considering all that we have heard before deciding how best to move forward and want to do justice to the breadth and depth of views that have been shared with us and this will take some time. We are committed to building on the momentum of the work and health agenda, and to taking early action where it is right to do so.”