To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what conclusions his Department has reached in fulfilment of its duty under section 3.111 of the statutory code of practice of the disability equality duty. (240980)

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for disabled people and welcomes its responsibilities under the Disability Equality Duty.

The Department published its corporate Disability Equality Scheme in April 2008 and has recently published its Secretary of State Report on Disability Equality. Key priorities identified by our stakeholders with disabilities are access to justice; offender management and participation in public life.

The MOJ will be publishing its first Disability Equality Scheme (DES) annual review in summer 2009 in which related actions on these priority areas will be reported on.