Question follow-through · 119676

Assistance Animals

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory definition for assistance dogs.

answeredDepartment for Work and Pensions

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body: Department for Work and Pensions
Tabled: 10 Mar 2026
Target answer date: 12 Mar 2026
Answer: 18 Mar 2026 · 8 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

Recorded timeline

10 Mar 2026
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a statutory definition for assistance dogs.
12 Mar 2026
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
18 Mar 2026
Answer published
No one should be refused access to businesses, services or public spaces because they legitimately have an assistance dog.Strong protection already exists in the Equality Act 2010, which places a duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable...

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Hearing Impairment

11 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many users of Access to Work who receive funding for British Sign Language interpreters have had their awards expire before their renewal is processed.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Hearing Impairment

11 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many users of Access to Work received funding for a British Sign Language interpreter in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what was the average cost per person of thos

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Hearing Impairment

11 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who use Access to Work for the provision of British Sign Language interpretation receive funding for an additional condition to difficulty in hearing.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Hearing Aids

11 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received funding through an Access to Work grant to purchase hearing aids in the last 12 months.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Department for Work and Pensions: Hearing Impairment

11 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help ensure that digital projects, such as OneLogin, are accessible for deaf people and people with hearing loss who use his Department's services.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Reform

11 Mar 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department is using data to inform proposals for reform of Access to Work.

Strong linkSame MP, department and exact heading

Assistance Animals

13 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure access to services for disabled people with assistance dogs.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Neurological Diseases

13 Apr 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) other progressive neurological conditions received Access to Work support in 2024-25 by provision type.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme

3 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to develop the Access to Work Scheme.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme: Finance

3 Jun 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the increase in the number of assessors to clear the Access to Work backlog will be funded from the current allocated fund for Access to Work.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Disability: Departmental Coordination

14 Sept 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of cross-government working between the Disability Policy Unit, the Department of Health and Social Care and other relevant departments in improving outc

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Access to Work Programme

14 Sept 2026 · To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking with the Department of Health and Social Care to assess how changes to the Access to Work programme’s policy, implementation and claimant interactions could improve h