The Minister for Disabled People

The Minister for Disabled People and the Office for Disability Issues work closely to deliver disability equality

About the Minister for Disabled People

The Minister for Disabled People is Maria Miller MP. The Minister for Disabled People has the cross-government lead on making progress towards disability equality and is the minister responsible for the Office for Disability Issues (ODI).

The Minister for Disabled People also has specific responsibilities within the Department for Work and Pensions which include Disability Living Allowance reform, reviewing the Independent Living Fund and specialist disability employment programmes.

ODI leads the massive programme of activity which is taking place right across government to tackle the inequalities between disabled and non-disabled people, all of which is underpinned by progress on implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.

Working across government

The Minister leads on building capability and skill in all aspects of disability equality across government, including supporting other government departments to ensure they equality impact assess their policies. The Minister is committed in her role of championing the rights of disabled people across government and is keen to hear directly from disabled people on the issues that affect them. She has regular meetings with Equality 2025, the Disabilities Charities Consortium and the Disabled People’s Organisations Group to discuss disability equality policy. The Minister is committed to the principle of co-production and wants to ensure that government directly involves disabled people when producing policies or delivering services that affect them.

The Minister for Disabled People also has responsibility for child poverty, the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission, lone parent policy, family policy, and vulnerable groups who face barriers to the labour market e.g. ex-offenders and homeless people.

Explore

Beyond the Office for Disability Issues

Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions website

Page last reviewed: 09 March 2011