§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) which organisations in(a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland have been invited to submit nominations to the European Community network of rehabilitation centres;
(2) what action the Minister for the Disabled proposes to take to enable organisations in the voluntary sector to contribute to, and benefit from, the second action programme for disabled people;
(3) what action the Minister for the Disabled has taken following agreement by the Council of the European Community of the second action programme for disabled people in April, to ensure that disability organisations and others have been fully informed of the contents of the programme;
(4) what action the Minister for the Disabled has taken to provide information on the second action programme for disabled people to organisations in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. ScottFollowing agreement by the Council of the European Community to proceed with a second action programme for disabled people, the Commission invited member states to submit nominations for the network of local pilot projects. Because of the very tight timetable for nominations set by the Commission, it was not possible to advertise publicly. Nominations were invited, therefore, from all relevant Government Departments including the Department of Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland. In addition, invitations to nominate were sent to a wide range of statutory and voluntary organisations. We asked these organisations and government departments to disseminate the invitation to other bodies who might be interested to encourage all those who might wish to apply. It is not possible, therefore, to say how many organisations were eventually invited to make nominations.
We received a large number of nominations that exceeded the number of places allocated to the United Kingdom within each network. The projects have now been selected and are being informed. Within each 99W network they cover a wide range of disabilities and have a good geographical spread including a project from Northern Ireland.
We intend to consider how those organisations who were not successful or who expressed an interest in the programme can be kept informed of the progress of the local projects. In addition we are considering the most appropriate way, within the constraints that apply on public expenditure, to facilitate the involvement of disability organisations in the second action programme.