§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will add Ormskirk and Kirkby to the list of towns in which at least one public building is to be adapted to meet the needs of the disabled; and what are his reasons for his decisions.
§ Mr. MarksI have been asked to reply.
It is the policy of the Department to adapt all Government buildings to meet the needs of the disabled, but this will take some time and depends on the availability of funds and staff resources. The special programme announced earlier this year was designed to give priority to the adaptation of at least one Government office building in the larger towns in the country so that the absence of facilities in major centres of population should not 379W be a bar to employment of the disabled as civil servants.
New offices for the Department of Health and Social Security now being built in Kirkby will include facilities for both disabled staff and visiting members of the public.