§ Mr. Mappasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if she will undertake a pilot study in South-East Lancashire to assess the number of people now signing the unemployment register who have minor physical and health limitations, with a view to appropriate training and light employment being provided.
§ Mr. FernyhoughStatistics are available of the numbers of unemployed 27W people registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Acts, but not of those suffering from minor physical and health limitations who are not so registered. We have no knowledge of a special problem of this kind in South-East Lancashire, and we have no plans for a pilot study on the lines suggested.
A wide range of vocational training courses is available to persons whether disabled or not who do not possess a usable skill, and an even wider range to suitable disabled people who come within the definition of "substantially handicapped" in Section 1 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944. My local offices make every effort to find siutable light employment where this is necessary because of minor physical or health limitations.