§ Mr. BrandrethTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement on provision for sheltered workshops and the sheltered placement scheme during 1993–94.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythWe shall be considering the future of sheltered employment provision in the light of the review of funding arrangements which is currently taking place. It is our aim that any changes we propose will improve the effectiveness of the scheme and help more people with severe disabilities.
We are committed to providing sheltered employment for people with severe disabilities and are currently 510W providing funds to enable around 5,000 people to he employed in sheltered workshops and around 7,000 in sheltered placements.
To ensure that we make best use of available resources we have decided that the planned number of places to be provided nationally will remain the same next year as in 1992–93. However, previous experience of turnover patterns suggests that around 1,000 existing places are likely to become vacant which will enable new entrants to join the programme.
In 1993–94 we are providing an increase of £2.37 million current expenditure for sheltered workshops and the sheltered placement scheme. These additional funds will be used to help meet the costs of voluntary bodies and local authorities through an increase in the grant ceilings by a further £170 and £210 respectively. This will bring them to £4,310 for voluntary bodies and £3,480 for local authorities. This represents an increase of 4.1 per cent. and 6.4 per cent. respectively.