§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of disablement resettlement officers per thousand of the population and per thousand of the disabled in the various regions and explain the reasons for the differences between one region and another.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe information is given in the accompanying table. The differences between regions are attributable to such factors as the varying incidence of disability among working210W people; the use made by disabled people of the resettlement services, which is influenced by the employment situation in the region; and the geographical distribution of industry and population within a region.
Number of Disablement Resettlement Officers Per thousand of Region Population Registered Disabled Persons Northern … … 0.010 0.78 Yorkshire and Humberside 0.010 0.70 Eastern and Southern 0.007 0.76 London and South Eastern … … 0.007 0.71 South Western … … 0.009 0.81 Wales … … 0.013 0.86 Midlands … … 0.008 0.64 North Western … 0.011 0.80 Scotland … … 0.011 0.90 Great Britain … 0.009 0.75
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will review the method of assessing job-opportunity for the severely disabled by his disablement resettlement officers and other officials; and if he will consider introducing greater flexibility to suit the individual needs of such disabled persons.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe method of assessing job-opportunity for the severely disabled by disablement resettlement officers and other officials is already very flexible. All disabled people are assessed individually, according to their need.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will review the amount payable for equipment to assist the severely disabled to obtain employment and allow greater discretion to the officials responsible for making these grants.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithMy officials already have a considerable amount of discretion in determining the amounts payable for equipment under the special aids scheme to assist severely disabled people who are capable of remunerative employment. The hon. Member has recently drawn my attention to one particular aspect of the scheme and I am looking into this.
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§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the status of disablement resettlement officers in his Department; what special training they receive; and what knowledge they are given of advanced technology to aid the disabled to be rehabilitated and found employment.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithDisablement resettlement officers are executive officers of my Department. A small number of higher grade officers hold posts as Regional or Senior Disablement Resettlement Officers. Newly appointed officers receive at least 32 days special training. They are not trained in advanced technology but advice is available as required from the department's technical officers.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment how disablement resettlement officers are informed of successful problem-solving in the care of the disabled; and what interchange of information takes place between disablement resettlement officers about general and specific examples of problem-solving.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithDuring their training Disablement Resettlement Officers are given guidance on the solution of resettlement problems and particular cases of difficulty are discussed. There is also interchange of information between all Disablement Resettlement Officers on a regional basis and between Regional/Senior Disablement Resettlement Officers on a national basis.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many of those wage-earners in full-time work but earning less than their supplementary benefit entitlement are disabled; and, of these, how many, respectively, are single, married without children, or with one, two, three, four or more children.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThis information is not at present available. I understand however that information gathered by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in the course of the Survey of the Chronic Sick and Handicapped may soon make some estimates possible. The estimates would be of the number of families with a head who is both handicapped and in full-time work where the family income is below their supplemen-212W tary benefit level. Similar details may also be available for single persons. The estimates will relate to the numbers of handicapped persons in full-time work when the fieldwork for the Survey was undertaken in 1968–69.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present unemployment rate among persons registered disabled and how they are distributed between the administrative regions.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithOn 11th January, 1970, 12.2 per cent. of registered disabled persons were registered as unemployed. The following statement shows the distribution between regions:
Disabled unemployed as percentage of total registered disabled Regional proportions of total disabled unemployment (percentages) London and South Eastern … … 8.0 11.7 Eastern and Southern 10.2 8.7 South Western … 12.2 6.5 Midlands … … 10.8 14.0 Yorkshire and Humberside 14.5 12.7 Northern … … 18.0 10.4 North Western … 12.5 15.0 Wales … … 15.9 8.2 Scotland … … 15.2 12.8 Great Britain … 12.2 100
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will arrange a meeting with the Confederation of British Industry to discuss methods of ensuring that employers fulfil their quota of disabled workers.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithApproaches were made to the Confederation of British Industry at the end of 1969 about making more employment opportunities available to disabled people. The C.B.I. promised full co-operation and drew the attention of its constituent bodies to the problem. It is difficult to know what more they can do, but I hope shortly to approach other organisations to stimulate local initiatives by employers.