HC Deb 07 June 1988 vol 134 cc707-8
8. Ms. Mowlam

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether there have been any changes in the treatment of disabled and mentally handicapped people under restart and the new availability for work test.

Mr. Lee

There has been no change in the treatment of disabled and mentally handicapped people under restart. People who are limited in the work they can do because of their health are only required to be available for work they are able to do.

Ms. Mowlam

Will the Minister clarify his answer? He failed to clarify the point that disabled people and the mentally handicapped either have to be registered for sickness benefit or they have to be available for work, like everybody else. The Minister said that the Government are interested in giving genuine training. If that is so, surely there should be a response to disabled people that relates to their disability, as the all-party Public Accounts Committee argued. What the Minister has just told us does not relate in the least to the needs of disabled people.

Mr. Lee

The restart programme is extremely positive. To give an example, about 3.4 per cent. of the total restart interviewees, or 121,000 people, have been referred as a result of the restart interviews, to disablement resettlement officers, which emphasises the positive nature of the programme.

Mr. Nellist

Is the Minister aware of his Department's figures, part of which he has just quoted, which show that of the 114,000 people who attended the one-week restart courses last year, only 7 per cent. got a job? For those 7 per cent., restart was a success, but for the other 93 per cent. it was a failure. In Coventry, for example, there are still 30 unemployed workers for every vacancy registered at a jobcentre, restart or no restart.

Mr. Lee

As my right hon. Friend has said repeatedly, there are 700,000 vacancies nationally. The restart programme is positive and beneficial. About 88 per cent. of those who attend interviews are offered something positive.

Mr. Nellist

But only 7 per cent. get a job.

Ms. Short

I am sure that the Minister would not wish to mislead the House by saying that there has been no change in the eligibility criteria for disabled claimants. Will he confirm that his Department issued a circular on 17 March that described tightened eligibility criteria for disabled, mentally handicapped and disturbed claimants? Will he confirm that the circular makes it clear that unemployment benefit offices have received more claims from disabled people than they expected and that, given that they have more money to gain from claiming sickness benefit, this shows the determination of disabled people to work? Is it not a disgrace that the Minister's Department is tightening up on the availability for work tests for disabled people when it has been criticised by the Public Accounts Committee for the service that it provides for disabled people?

Mr. Lee

We are being very fair to the disabled. Both we and the Department of Health and Social Security have issued instructions to ensure that those who are eligible for alternative benefits are directed appropriately.