§ 3. Mr. Moodyasked the Minister of Labour how many disabled persons are registered on the disabled persons register at Gateshead up to the most convenient date; how many have been placed in employment; and how many are being trained for employment.
§ Mr. IsaacsThe number of registered disabled persons at Gateshead on 21st January, 1950, was 2,468, of whom 316 were unemployed, including 62 who were classified as in need of employment under sheltered conditions. One hundred and eighteen registered disabled persons were placed in employment during the quarter ended 31st January, 1950; the number for the year ended 31st January, 1950, was 553. Twenty-one men and 11 women are being trained for skilled trades and 16 men are taking a course of general industrial rehabilitation.
§ Mr. MoodyWhile thanking my right hon. Friend for his reply, may I ask whether he realises that there is still a sense of frustration among those in this category, and will he do his best in the matter?
§ Mr. IsaacsYes, Sir; I realise that there is this sense of frustrating but, on the other hand, a very great deal has been done, and we are pressing on with it.
§ 11. Mr. William Teelingasked the Minister of Labour the number and percentage of registered disabled persons who are unemployed in Brighton; how these compare with the average for the country; the numbers who are severely disabled and in need of sheltered employment; and the prospects of the establishment of a Remploy factory in Brighton and the light industries mentioned in his reply on 29th March last.
§ Mr. IsaacsIn the Brighton area on 16th January, 1950, there were 629 disabled persons registered as unemployed. This is 11.1 per cent. of the total number of registered disabled persons as compared with an average of 6.6 per cent. for the whole of the country. In addition, 156 disabled persons were classified as unlikely to obtain employment except under sheltered conditions. A Remploy factory is planned for Brighton, but the slowing down of the building programme which I announced to the House on 7th July, 1949, is holding up developments and it will he some time before building begins.
Of the light industries referred to in my answer of 29th March last, one new factory has been completed. Three more are in course of construction, and a fifth is expected to start building shortly.
§ Mr. TeelingDoes the right hon. Gentleman realise that last year, when he answered the previous Question, he stated that the conditions in Brighton were exceptional'? The figures he has given today are practicaly the same. Does that mean that things are getting worse everywhere else? Does he further realise that the Remploy factory, which has been promised for a year, will take only 100 people, and that there are something like 1,000 disabled persons unemployed?
§ Mr. IsaacsI have given the figures of those requiring sheltered employment. So far as a comparison with last year is concerned, it is a fact, an unpleasant fact, that there is a greater percentage of disabled persons unemployed in the holiday resorts than in the other towns. One reason is that the three per cent. quota operates only with firms employing 20 or more workers and in these areas there are not many such firms, I can, however, assure the hon. Member and the House that pressure is still going on to get these other factories established there, 18 of which are already approved, which will employ anything up to 1,200 people.
§ Mr. TeelingCan the right hon. Gentleman give any idea when they are likely to be completed? It is a year now since he told me that there was about to be work for 1,200.
§ Mr. IsaacsI can only say that I have given the figures as they will be when the factories are completed, but they take a little time to build.