Exclusive:Demotion for government's new Minister for Disabled People shows it is 'an afterthought', Labour says

The delay and demotion while appointing a new Minister for Disabled People shows they are "an afterthought" to the government, Labour has said.

Vicky Foxcroft, the Shadow Minister for Disabled People, has been monitoring the time it has taken for Rishi Sunak to appoint a replacement for Tom Pursglove, with the gap making it the longest period the position has been vacant for 30 years.

Charities criticised the government for demoting the role. Pursglove, who is now in the Home Office, was a Minister of State, while his replacement Mims Davies was already a Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department for Work and Pensions. NationalWorld revealed that the role would not have a dedicated frontbencher, and Davies has added the role as Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work to her current brief on social mobility.

Foxcroft promised that Labour wouldn't be watering down the role. She told NationalWorld: "Disabled people have felt like an afterthought consistently under different Tory governments, particularly during the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. The government has literally evidenced it in the largest fashion.

"The government’s got a Disability Action Plan that was supposed to be published before Christmas and they haven’t, and who knows if they will. They had a Strategy for Disabled People that was deemed unlawful by the courts. They're doing nothing that's ambitious."

Foxcroft said Jeremy Hunt's announcement in the Autumn Statement that the government would be pushing more disabled people to return to work was "really worrying rhetoric".

She added: "I’ve never spoken to a disabled person who doesn’t want to work, but it’s barriers in society, and certainly the barriers in terms of the DWP, which make it difficult for them to. They are not tackling the backlog ... I think it’s an absolute disgrace."

James Taylor, from disability equality charity Scope, urged the government to make Davies a Minister for State. "Disabled people have been waiting a week for an announcement on who will have responsibility for disability in government," he said.

"And now we're seeing a downgrading of the role. We'd urge the government to reinstate the dedicated Minister of State position, to reflect the need for the UK's 16 million disabled people to be treated as a priority.

“We need full-time leadership of disability strategy in government, to make sure policy doesn’t leave disabled people disadvantaged."

Davies said on X, formerly Twitter, that she was "honoured to confirm my appointment as the representative for disabled people in government. I’ll work as hard as I can to ensure disabled people's voices are heard loud and clear.

"I’m so proud of the DWP - an amazing department supporting people - and I am determined to deliver. I’ll continue to champion opportunities, progression and life chances with my new portfolio and look forward to working with the sector and delivering for them. I’ll have a continued focus on social mobility, both reflecting the voice and needs of young people in the DWP and all across government."

While a government spokesperson told NationalWorld: "Minister Davies will build upon this government’s track record of supporting disabled people, having delivered millions of cost of living payments and helping over one million more disabled people into work five years earlier than planned.

"The minister will help ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive.” The DWP said new proposals were due to be published in the Disability Action Plan, but did not say whether that would happen this year.

Hunt announced in the Autumn Statement that the work capability assessment would be reformed “to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home-working after the pandemic” and outlined £1.3 billion in spending over the next five years which he said will be focused on helping nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs.

At the time, the Chancellor said: “Every year we sign off over 100,000 people on to benefits with no requirement to look for work because of sickness or disability. That waste of potential is wrong economically and wrong morally.”

Following this, the Disability Benefits Consortium, a national coalition of more than 100 charities, described the Government’s plan as a “cynical attack on disability benefits (which) will have a devastating impact on those on the lowest incomes”.

Anastasia Berry, policy co-chair of the consortium, said just one in 10 jobs advertised this year has offered home-working as an option, and described access to health and care support, “which could keep people in work for longer, including mental health and social care”, as becoming “increasingly strained”.

United Response, a member of the consortium, said there is “little point forcing people into the wrong job as this will simply lead to a revolving door of staff” and called for “targeted and specialist support” for people “rather than using punitive punishments”. Its chief executive Tim Cooper said: “Disability should not be framed as a lifestyle choice when there is a real risk of sanctions pushing people already dealing with a cost of-living crisis further into poverty this winter.”

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.