HC Deb 20 January 1976 vol 903 cc1117-9
6. Mr. Gould

asked the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects to present proposals for changing the obligations imposed on employers to employ disabled people.

9. Mr. Ovenden

asked the Secretary of State for Employment when he expects to announce his decision on whether to place a statutory obligation on employers to make available publicly information on the extent to which they are meeting their quota obligations concerning disabled workers.

Mr. Harold Walker

I have nothing to add at this stage to the statement I made to the House on 10th December.—[Vol. 902, c. 459–68.]

Mr. Gould

Given that the quota system is to be retained for the time being, will my hon. Friend say which statutory provisions constitute an obstacle to more rigorous enforcement? What steps is he taking to remove such obstacles?

Mr. Walker

If my hon. Friend will look at the terms of the 1944 Act he will see that, for a start, there is no obligation on employers to provide the relevant information to my Department. The only way in which we can obtain the information that would inform us about an employer's compliance with the statutory quota is for our inspectors to make a physical visit. In view of the limited number of inspectors and the enormous number of establishments that would need to be visited, the idea of a constant and effective monitoring system just is not on.

Turning to the necessary changes that would be needed to correct the situation, I am sure that my hon. Friend will accept that perhaps the best thing to do for the time being is to let the Manpower Services Commission gain some experience of operating the arrangements. Then we can consider what recommendations, if any, it eventually makes to us.

Mr. Ovenden

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is some merit in the idea of making firms publicise their performance in respect of the quota system as the legal system seems to have failed to enforce the quota? Perhaps we can shame some firms, through publicity, into meeting their obligations. Will my hon. Friend consider placing an obligation on firms to publish their quota position in any job advertisement that they insert in the newspapers? Will he ask his right hon. and hon. Friends to set an example in this respect by ensuring that Government Departments and the nationalised industries publish their performance on a regular basis?

Mr. Walker

Dealing with my hon. Friend's specific suggestion about a possible obligation in respect of advertisements, clearly this would require legislation. Here again, I must refer to what I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Mr. Gould). Perhaps we should wait to see what is the experience of the Manpower Services Commission.

As I said in my statement on 10th December 1975, I attach the greatest importance to the publication of figures showing statutory compliance with quota obligations. We have already taken steps with regard to the public sector, and especially Government Departments. I said that we would arrange the compliance of Government Departments and that their performance would be published annually. We are looking to the nationalised industries, local authorities and other public bodies to do the same. There are obvious difficulties with the private sector, because legislative change is clearly needed. The Government are contemplating the introduction of a Companies Bill, which, I hope, will deal with this point. It has been the subject of discussion between my own Department and the Department of Trade, which is the responsible Government Department.

Mr. Marten

Could there not be a type of negative obligation, whereby a firm that did not employ its quota was obliged to inform the Minister, but one that did was not obliged to do so?

Mr. Walker

I must point out to the hon. Gentleman that, unfortunately, what he suggests would require a change in the legislation. The only way in which the information can be required from a company at present is by a physical visit. There is no obligation on a company to take the positive step of providing the information to us, and there would need to be a legislative change to require it to do so. However, there may be something in the hon. Gentleman's point. I shall certainly consider it.