§ 12 Mr. Wilkesasked the Minister of Labour the number of persons in the United Kingdom registered as disabled and fit for light work only, as at 31st January, 1947; how many have been unemployed for a period greater than six months; and how this total compares with that at 3rst January, 1946.
§ Mr. IsaacsOn 20th January, 1947, the Register of Disabled Persons included 16,470 men and women so severely disabled as to require "sheltered employment," of whom 12,189 were at the time unemployed. This compares with a total of 7,760 severely disabled persons registered as unemployed on 21st January, 1946. No regular statistics covering length of unemployment are kept, but on 21st October, 1946, when a special count was made, the number of severely disabled persons unemployed totalled 12,550, including 11,878 males, and of the latter figure the number who had been unemployed for more than six months amounted to 8,557.