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Civil Service (Disabled Representation)

21. Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab): What action is being taken to ensure that people with disabilities are represented across the civil service. [192010]

The Minister for the Cabinet Office (Ruth Kelly): The Government are committed to increasing the representation of disabled people in the civil service. The latest published figures show that 4.3 per cent. of civil servants are disabled, which is up from 1 per cent. in 1998. Action to increase representation of disabled people includes a bursary scheme for disabled staff with high potential and a summer placement scheme to encourage disabled applicants to join the graduate fast stream.

Lawrie Quinn: Everyone in the House would commend the Government for the progress that has been made to encourage people with disabilities to come into the civil service. The Minister's ambition is surely to make sure that the civil service reflects the composition of society as a whole. Can she say a little more about how she proposes to ensure that people who are already in the civil service can develop their fullest potential, and that the top ranks of the civil service also reflect the composition of wider society, while obviously also being based on merit and not just on quota or any other device?

Ruth Kelly: My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the challenge that we face in trying to open up the senior civil service, in particular, to disabled people. In that context the challenge is much greater, and progress much slower.

One of the most important things that we can do, through the summer placement scheme, is to give disabled people access to work placements for six to eight weeks, which enables them to gain work experience similar to that of fast-stream applicants. However, we must also change the culture of the senior civil service so that it recognises the contribution made by disabled people. I believe that the Cabinet Secretary has committed the service to that change in its cultural approach.

Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South) (UUP): I welcome the improvement in numbers, but can the Minister tell us how much of it has taken place in the Department of Health and its personal social services division, which ought to be leading the way in this regard, and which Departments may be lagging behind?

Ruth Kelly: In the drive to include the whole civil service in this initiative, it is of course the Cabinet Office's responsibility to set best practice guidelines, change the organisational culture of the service and encourage people to declare themselves disabled. We know that people are reluctant to do so when they have to name themselves. In addition, however, each Department must take up the challenge. The Cabinet
 
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Office is committed to organisational changes and is encouraging other Departments to introduce them, but I will draw the hon. Gentleman's specific comments to the attention of the Minister involved.

Public Appointments (Diversity)

22. Keith Vaz (Leicester, East) (Lab): What steps he is taking to promote diversity in the appointments he makes. [192011]

The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. Alan Milburn): The Duchy of Lancaster has a policy of equal opportunities in respect of both internal and external appointments. When dealing with magisterial appointments, advisory committees follow the directions prepared by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. I have ensured that, wherever appropriate, best practice and the Cabinet Office guidelines are followed.

Keith Vaz: I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his appointment to his new post and welcome his statement, but lament the fact that of the 191 appointments made by his predecessors, only seven have been of Asian origin. I cannot give him the number of appointees of Afro-Caribbean origin, because the Department will not tell me what it is.

Does my right hon. Friend not agree that although the political will is there—as expressed by him—the implementation is not? What steps will he take, now that he is vigorous and fresh in his new post, to ensure that the diversity agenda is expressed in the appointments that he makes?

Mr. Milburn: I am extremely grateful for my hon. Friend's support. I suspect that I shall need it.

Last week I met Sir Michael Bunbury, chairman of the Duchy Council, and Paul Clarke, chief executive and clerk of the council, to discuss precisely those issues. I reiterated, as I reiterate to the House now, the importance of securing a reasonable representation of
 
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the public in, especially, the appointment of magistrates. Over the last few years there has been a 73 per cent. increase in the number of Duchy appointments of magistrates from ethnic minorities, although there is clearly more progress to be made. My hon. Friend will also be pleased to learn that phase 2 of the magistrate shadowing scheme, which is intended to attract more magistrates from the black and ethnic minority community, has targeted 12 areas across the country including not only Lancashire but, I am happy to say, Leicester.

Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East) (Con): On behalf of the Opposition, I welcome both Ministers to their new responsibilities—although they were formerly discharged by a single Minister at non-Cabinet level. May I reassure the Minister for the Cabinet Office in particular that, while she may have only half the job title, I am sure that she will be doing all the work?

What advice has the Chancellor received from Alastair Campbell on the question of diversity of appointments, given that official calls to Alastair Campbell are now directed to a Cabinet Office secretary employed at No. 10 Downing street? Is this one more diverse appointment that has yet to be reported publicly?

Mr. Milburn: I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support. With him, it is not so much a question of the poisoned chalice as the poison; however, I am grateful—one takes what one can get in this job. [Interruption.] As he says, I am sure that there will be a lot more to come, but if I were him I would take heed of one piece of advice. [Interruption.] I am just about to answer the question, if the hon. Gentleman will pipe down for a moment. He says that a single Minister previously did this job, and he and his hon. Friends have made the absurd allegation that the current post is a waste of public money. That is a bit rich given that, according to my figures, the Opposition's Short money has been increased by 400 per cent. since 1997. Given the performance of the hon. Gentleman and rest of the Opposition, one wonders what they are doing with it.
 
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Congenital Heart Disease (Exemption from Prescription Charges)

12.30 pm

Mr. Ivan Henderson (Harwich) (Lab): I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to exempt those who suffer from congenital heart disease from prescription charges.

The Government have achieved a lot in drawing attention to the importance of a healthy lifestyle. They can take much credit for the fact that there is far greater public awareness of the need to make lifestyle choices in order to avoid heart disease. I have tabled this ten-minute Bill on behalf of a group of people for whom the ability to improve their health by pursuing a healthy lifestyle is not an option. Those born with complex congenital heart disorders face a life in which ill fortune has decided that no amount of exercise, healthy diets or avoidance of unhealthy living will allow them to live free from the rigours of a heart that does not function properly.

Avoiding cigarettes, alcohol or junk food will not offer them the level of health that most of us take for granted. Their condition denies them the choices that we enjoy about how we live our lives, and how much importance we place on lifestyle. Most of us make conscious, informed decisions as to whether we smoke or drink, or take regular exercise to try to keep our hearts in good shape. Those born with a congenital heart disorder do not share those choices.

Congenital heart disease is a heart condition resulting from an abnormality in the heart's structure or function that is present at birth. Most congenital heart conditions occur because the heart or its valves and vessels are not properly formed. Additional defects such as holes between the chambers of the heart may also be present.

The House will be aware of the Grown Up Congenital Heart Patients Association. GUCH is a charity that was formed 10 years ago by Professor Jane Summerville, who was then a member of staff at the Royal Brompton hospital, and is the only national charity run by patients on behalf of patients. One of my constituents, Stephanie Tyrer, is a founder member of GUCH, and she is listening very intently as I present this Bill.

I wish to make the House aware of Stephanie's life, as it is typical of those with a complex congenital heart disorder. It is a story of the strength, determination and courage that is necessary if those with such a disorder are to reach adulthood and face the enormous difficulty of simply trying to live a normal adult life. When Stephanie was born, her parents were told to take her home and enjoy her while they had the opportunity. At only 18 months old, she underwent major surgery that was designed to prolong her life. Remarkably, that procedure is still functioning 35 years later.

When Stephanie reached school age, her parents were actually asked if it was worth educating their daughter, given that she was terminally ill. During her teenage years, it became necessary for oxygen to be administered at home, and shortly after her 18th birthday, Stephanie suffered her first heart attack. As a result of constant infections and hospitalisation, she was forced to leave school before taking her A-levels because she was too ill to continue her education. What a tragedy for a person who later achieved membership of Mensa.
 
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In spite of her ill health, Stephanie has dedicated her life to aiding others. As a result of her charity work through Rotaract, Rotary International awarded her the Paul Harris fellowship—the first time that a member of Rotaract achieved this honour. Stephanie is also a keen environmentalist. She has campaigned with me, and—it is only fair to say—against me when our views on a particular environmental issue have differed. She is a highly intelligent, extremely determined and totally motivated woman; if she were not, her condition would have made it impossible for her to achieve a fraction of what she has achieved.

Stephanie lives a few hundred yards from me in my Harwich constituency. I could not begin to imagine how much the effort of coming to Westminster today has taken out of her, and how many days it will take for her to recover from that exertion. It is a journey that does nothing more than irritate myself and fellow Members if our trains are delayed.

Stephanie is one of around 149,000 inhabitants of the United Kingdom who suffer from a congenital heart disorder. The particular significance of those represented by GUCH is that they have become adults and have to face adulthood in a society that is ill prepared to offer them the support that they require and deserve. By that, I am not suggesting that they are denied medical facilities, but those with a complex congenital condition are often denied the opportunity to work, to obtain insurance, to take out a mortgage that would allow them to own their own home and many other basic opportunities that we take for granted.

Those who are fortunate enough to obtain the basic independence and dignity of employment have to pay prescription charges for the drugs that are necessary to keep them alive. That is the specific point that my Bill is intended to address. Since I tabled it, I have received a letter from a constituent, Benjamin Dale, who provides a clear example of the inequality that currently exists. His sister suffers from diabetes and receives her prescriptions free of charge. He has congenital heart disorder and is subject to prescription charges. I believe that those suffering from a congenital heart disorder deserve the same Government support. Their condition does not result from poor lifestyle choices and it most certainly does not result from a lack of willingness to help themselves. They have simply been born with a congenital heart disorder and I believe that they should not have to face the additional burden in adult life of finding the money to pay for the medication that is necessary to keep them alive. Thanks to the availability of pre-payment prescription certificates, the cost can be restricted to £91.80. If such certificates were not available, the cost could easily exceed £500. In my opinion, no cost should be incurred.

In the year 2000, there were 149,000 adults in this country with a congenital heart condition and that number is predicted to rise to 185,000 by the year 2010. In the past, only one in five children born with such a condition achieved adulthood but now, thanks to better diagnosis, better facilities and a greater understanding of the condition, more than 80 per cent. survive into adulthood. It is important that the support and assistance that enables them to achieve adulthood is then tailored to provide the kind of support and assistance that is relevant to adult life.
 
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Around 4,500 babies are born each year with a congenital heart condition—a figure that represents approximately one in every 145 births. Every Member of the House will have constituents who suffer from a congenital heart disorder and who strive to live as normal a life as possible. The simple truth is, however, that to live as near a normal life as possible requires a strength and determination that we can only begin to imagine and everything that can be done to reduce the burden should be done. The Government have a good record of acknowledging such situations and taking the necessary action to offer assistance where possible.

This is one such case and it is a case that does not affect a particularly large number of people. Out of the 149,000 people with congenital heart disorders, we are talking only about those who have a complex congenital heart disorder, have reached adulthood and who are eligible to pay prescription charges. Those people, represented by GUCH, deserve the support of the Government and I commend the Bill to the House.

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