§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his policy on giving priority to sheltered workshops in allocating departmental contracts; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonIt is government policy that Departments should give priority to sheltered industry—including Remploy—and prison industries when placing contracts, although each Department which undertakes purchasing is responsible for its own contracting procedures. A specialist unit known as the Sheltered Employment Procurement and Consultancy Service (SEPACS) acts as a broker between sheltered industry and Government Departents to promote an increased volume of work, particularly that offering long-term contracts, with priority suppliers.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list by age and type of disability the numbers of disabled people registered as unemployed.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe information requested is as set out below for the latest dates available.
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1. Analysis of Unemployed Disabled People by Age Group on 9 October 1980 Age Group Unemployed Disabled people Under 18 4,869 18 2,730 19 3,112 20–24 13,494 25–29 11,605 30–34 12,722 35–44 26,484 45–49 17,509 50–54 21,569 55–59 25,244 60–64 17,415 65 and over 327 Total 157,080
2. Analysis of Unemployed People by Type of Disability at 10 April 1980 Type of disability Unemployed disabled people Amputation: (i) One arm (including partial) 969 (ii) Both arms (including partial) 56 (iii) One leg (including partial) 1,113 (iv) Both legs (including partial) 85 (v) One arm and one leg and other multiple 58 Arthritis and Rheumatism 5,969 Diseases of the digestive system 4,872 Diseases of the genito-urinary system 1,042 Diseases of the heart/circulatory system 13,744 Diseases of the respiratory system: (i) Pneumoconiosis (coal miners and ex-coal miners only) 266 (ii) Pneumoconiosis (other than coal miners and ex-coal miners) 102 (iii) Chronic bronchitis, asthma and others 11,698 Diseases of the skin and cellular tissue 1,935 Ear defects: (i) deaf without speech 903 (ii) deaf with speech 979 (iii) hard of hearing 2,426 Eye defects: (i) blind 1,141 (ii) partially sighted 4,761 Injuries of head, face, neck, thorax, abdomen, pelvis and trunk: (i) injuries to head, face, neck and throat 1,340 (ii) injuries to thorax, abdomen, pelvis and trunk 1,802 Diseases, injuries and deformities of the lower limb 10,615 Diseases, injuries and deformities of the upper limb 6,472 Diseases, injuries and deformities of the spine: (i) paraplegia 1,356 (ii) curvatures and spondylitis 16,522 Mental disorders: (i) psychoneuroses 12,961 (ii) psychoses 8,423 (iii) mental subnormality 10,503 Organic nervous diseases: (i) epilepsy 7,803 (ii) all others e.g. disseminated sclerosis, hemiplegia, sciatica 3,007 Tuberculosis (pulmonary) 1,388 Tuberculosis (non-pulmonary) 336 Other general diseases and injuries e.g. heamophilia, diabetes, leukaemia) 8,201 Total 142,848
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give, for the years 1978, 1979 and 179W 1980, the number of disabled people and mentally handicapped people who were admitted onto a course with the youth opportunitities programme and the percentage of (a) young people and (b) disabled people who had been on a course and who were placed in permanent employment within three months of terminating their course.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonIt is not possible to say how many disabled young people—including the mentally handicapped—participated in the youth opportunities programme in its first two operational years—April to March. In the period April 1980 to December 1980 inclusive some 6,000 young people who were known to be disabled entered the programme.
The Manpower Services Commission follow-up surveys of young people are carried out, on average, five to six months after they have left the programme. Of a sample of all September-October 1978 and September-October 1979 entrants, 7 out of 10 and 6 out of 10 respectively were in permanent employment at the time of the survey. Figures for disabled young people are not available as the limited size of the samples make it impossible to give a breakdown of specific groups' activities on leaving the programme.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is taking to ensure more disabled young people are able to benefit from the youth opportunities programme.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Mr. Foster) on 21 January 1981.—[Vol. 997, c. 196.]
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will ensure that if the proposed integration experiment in some jobcentres whereby disabled people with minor handicaps are assisted by the employment adviser instead of the disablement resettlement officer is successful, there should be no reduction in the total number of disablement resettlement officers but that they should be permitted to spend the extra time assisting the severely handicapped.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI shall reply to the right hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many registered and unregistered disabled people have been placed in employment by district resettlement officers in each month for the years 1978, 1979 and 1980.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonFigures to show placings of disabled people by DROs in 1978, 1979 and 1980 are as set out below:
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1978 1979 1980 January (5)3,205 (5)3,306 (5)2,985 February 4,536 4,366 (5)4,954 March 4,554 4,715 4,085 April (5)5,729 5,469 4,088 May 5,307 (5)6,349 4,460 June 5,238 (5) 6,874 (5) 5,081 July 4,968 5,132 3,453 August (5) 5,012 4,562 (5) 3,442 September (5) 5,309 (5) 5,406 2,768 October 5,024 4,869 2,970 November 5,031 4,681 (5)3,314
1978 1979 1980 December 4,733 4,370 2,554 Totals 58,646 60,099 44,154 Statistics to show placings of registered and unregistered disabled people separately are not maintained.
The figure relate to the Manpower Services Commission statistical months rather than calendar months and those months covering five week periods have been identified.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what progress he has made in his discussions with local authorities and area health authorities on improving their record in employing disabled people; if he will list the authorities with which he has had discussions; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI shall reply to the right hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for Employent how many registered disabled (a) men and (b) women are registered unemploymed in the areas covered by the Peterlee and Wingate employment offices; and what percentage unemployment rates each category represents.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 4 February 1981]: The information requested is as set out below. The figures are for 15 January 1981, the latest date available.
No. of unemployed registered disabled people Unemployment rate amongst registered disabled people per cent. Peterlee Males 67 12.6 Females 7 6.9 Total 74 11.5 Wingate Males 31 10.4 Females 3 8.1 Total 34 10.2