A/HRC/41/39/Add.3 People with Disabilities 42. Government is committed to providing the right support to every person with a disability or health condition. In November 2017, we published ‘Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability’, setting out a 10-year programme across the workplace, welfare system, and health services. 43. In 2018/19, we spent £54bn on benefits to support people with disabilities and health conditions. Employment of people with a disability rose by 930,000 between 2013 and 2018 and the “disability employment gap” has fallen by 3.6 percentage points since 2013. 44. We continually review our services and support. In March 2019, the DWP Secretary of State announced:  Reassessments for people receiving Personal Independence Payment who are over state pension age will stop, unless they tell us their needs have changed. Instead they will receive a light touch review every 10 years;  A new, integrated service for health-related assessments will be introduced from 2021 via a single digital system;  A plan to consult on Statutory Sick Pay which supports more flexible working and access to appropriate and timely Occupational Health advice and support;  Plans to commission independent research to better understand the needs of disabled people and how health and disability benefits can better support them. Older Persons 45. In 2012, Parliament voted to change the rules for couples so that the transition from working age income-related support to pensioner income-related support happens when both partners have reached State Pension age. This took effect in May 2019. 46. Pension age income-related benefits are not intended to support working age claimants. They provide support for pensioner households who are no longer economically active because of their age. 47. Where the working age partner is claiming UC, they will receive support and incentives to move into and progress in work. The change did not apply to ‘mixed age couples’ already claiming pension age income-related benefits at the point of change, for as long as they remain entitled to either benefit. 48. State Pension age reform has focused on maintaining the right balance between sustainability of State Pension and fairness between generations in the face of demographic change. 49. Women who retired in 2016 are expected to receive more State Pension over their lifetime on average than women ever have before. By 2030, over 3million women stand to gain an average of £550 per year due to the new State Pension. Ethnic Minorities 50. Government published the findings of the Race Disparity Audit in October 2017. It looked at ethnicity in relation to outcomes including education, housing, employment and the justice system. 51. Ethnic minority employment has risen by 556,000 since 2015, taking us 84% of the way towards meeting our target of increasing ethnic minority employment by 20% by 2020. DWP monitors and publishes ethnicity data, including on employment, inactivity and benefits. 52. To address the barriers ethnic minority employees face in the workplace, the Government is consulting on a mandatory approach to ethnicity pay reporting and will publish its response later this year. 6