I refer the hon Member to my response to Question UIN 166428 on 17 March 2021.

The Government has made no such estimate and no assessment has been made.

In charging for care, local authorities must follow the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) 2014 Regulations and have regard to the Care and Support statutory guidance. Where additional support is needed, the local authority can be asked to carry out a financial assessment review to ensure the right level of income is retained to meet needs that are not being met by the local authority.

We are looking carefully at how we can support disabled children and their families across the whole country, including in Slough and the South East. During 2020/21 we allocated £3.6 million to voluntary sector organisations nationally to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of autistic people, people with a learning disability, disabled people, including disabled children and their families impacted by COVID-19, by funding services providing direct, practical support. The funding covered services offered throughout the pandemic including supporting the emotional and mental wellbeing of disabled people through online courses and wellbeing calls to reduce isolation, as well as learning and play opportunities specifically for disabled children.

No specific assessment has been made. However, we are continuing to carefully consider the specific risks and impacts that disabled people, including disabled children, face as a result of the pandemic and put in place the necessary mitigations to protect and support them.

During 2020/21 we allocated £3.6 million to voluntary and community sector organisations to support autistic people, people with a learning disability and disabled people, including disabled children and their families, throughout the pandemic. This funded services providing direct, practical support for their physical and mental wellbeing, including learning and play opportunities for disabled children to help combat social isolation.

No such estimate has been made. The Managed Migration Pilot remains suspended as the Department continues to focus on delivering its part of the Government’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. SDP transitional payments were available to eligible claimants who were previously entitled to the SDP as part of a legacy benefit and made a Universal Credit claim before the SDP Gateway came into effect on 16th January 2019. We have ensured that a transitional SDP element will be considered for those entitled to SDP who make a claim to Universal Credit following a change of circumstances on or after 27th January 2021.

The Department’s internal analysis was based on its INFORM volume forecast model and Policy Simulation Model. The underlying methodology was signed off by the Office for Budget Responsibility and set out in detail in the Welfare Trends Report 2018, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/welfare-trends-report-january-2018.

The Department will publish full analysis comparing the benefit entitlement of UC claimants and legacy claimants in due course.

The government will boost the number of specialist advisers dedicated to helping disabled jobseekers to secure and stay in work, with an additional 315 Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) roles to be in Jobcentre across the UK by May 2021.

Disability Employment Advisers cover every Jobcentre in England, Scotland and Wales. They work alongside all Work Coaches, specialising in finding the right support to help customers who have a disability or health condition into work.

The number of disability employment advisers employed by the department in March:-

2018 was 465

2019 was 441

2020 was 546

2021 was 479

Please note that we only have figures back to March 2018 because around that time we updated our business systems and any figures before this update are no longer available. The demand for DEA’s in March 2020 was 500 and this coming year is 1000 so we will be recruiting extra staff to meet this target by March 2022.

The government will boost the number of specialist advisers dedicated to helping disabled jobseekers to secure and stay in work, with an additional 315 Disability Employment Advisor (DEA) roles to be in jobcentres across the UK by May 2021.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to stand up for her constituents, particularly those who may have special circumstances. There is a process in

place for special circumstances to be considered. I would be interested to understand why in the case of her constituent, from her question, it does not look like that was effective. We would be very happy to investigate that particular case, although I understand that would of course be retrospective.

Constituents of mine who had travelled for essential medical treatment for their disabled children were required to quarantine at Heathrow in a hotel room that was completely inadequate for their needs. What consideration is being given to the needs of disabled people and those with medical needs in the hotel quarantine scheme?

We are making stations more accessible and improving staff training and passenger assistance. The disabled persons railcard reduces fares, and better, accessible trains are coming into service.

What steps he is taking to improve accessibility for people with physical and hidden disabilities who use the rail network.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and his interest in this. This Government are spending hundreds of millions of pounds on improving our network and continue to do so. Indeed, I met the chief executive of Network Rail yesterday to talk about how we can speed up the delivery of elements of our accessibility programme. I read the Leonard Cheshire report on this, and it was interesting, but I tend to think that it has underestimated the figures involved in improving our network to the level that it should be at by now.

Only 40% of railway stations in Greater Manchester have step-free access—that is 38 out of 93 stations. This is significantly lower than the north-west region as a whole, which is at 63%, and the national average at 61%. Mayor Andy Burnham has called for all railway stations in Greater Manchester to be fully accessible by 2025. According to the charity Leonard Cheshire, it would take just 1% to 3% of annual transport spending to make the rail network accessible by 2030, so what steps has the Minister taken to ensure that this will be a reality as soon as possible?

The Department is committed to helping all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), make up education lost as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. We recognise that extended school and college restrictions have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s education, health and wellbeing. We are committed to supporting them and their families.

We have and continue to develop plans for COVID-19 recovery. Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as the Education Recovery Commissioner and is considering how schools and the system can more effectively target resources and support at pupils in greatest need. In the development of this recovery plan, Sir Kevan is regularly meeting with a variety of stakeholders including disabled young people and their families. Sir Kevan is reviewing how evidence-based interventions can be used to address the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak has had not just on academic outcomes, but on the physical and mental health of children and young people.

As part of this plan, both special schools and alternative provision will be able to access funding to provide summer schools and the National Tutoring Programme. We recognise the additional costs associated with offering provision to pupils in specialist settings, and eligible pupils in special schools, special units in mainstream primary and secondary schools and alternative provision settings will attract a higher rate of funding for summer schools. We have also consistently prioritised children who attend specialist settings by providing additional uplifts both in the 2020 Catch-up Premium and in the 2021 Recovery Premium.

Young people with SEND aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care plan will be eligible for support via the 16 to 19 Tuition Fund, where they meet the fund criteria. Colleges are asked to have regard for the needs of students with SEND when prioritising students that would benefit most for small group tuition. Furthermore, the proposals to support early language and literacy catch up will benefit all children including those with SEND.

In addition, £200 million will be available to all secondary schools, including specialist settings, to deliver face to face summer schools. Schools will be able to target provision based on pupils’ needs. We also announced, on 10 February 2021, over £42 million SEND funding for the 2021-22 financial year to continue funding projects to support children with SEND. This investment will ensure that specialist organisations around the country can continue their work to help strengthen local area performance, support families, and provide practical support to schools and colleges. It will strengthen participation of parents and young people in the SEND system – ensuring they have a voice in designing policies and services and have access to high quality information, advice, and support.

The Department will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and its subsequent COVID-19 recovery plans on all pupils, including those with SEND, to ensure it targets support across the system most effectively.

On 13 April, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation published their final advice for prioritisation of phase two of the vaccination programme, recommending an age-based approach which the Government has accepted. Phase two will therefore cover all remaining adults aged between 18 and 49 years old. This includes all those disabled people aged 18 years old or over who have not already been included in phase one.

We have no plans to do so. When a disabled applicant is unable to complete or sign form FP92A, the correct procedure is for a general practitioner or other healthcare professional to complete the application on the patient’s behalf. This instruction is noted on form FP92A in the patient declaration section.