HC Deb 29 June 1960 vol 625 cc121-2W
43. Sir R. Cary

asked the Minister of Labour what steps he proposes to take to ensure that the facilities provided in workshops for the blind are fully adapted to modern conditions.

Mr. Heath

With the full support of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of the Disabled, I have appointed a small Working Party, which will undertake a comprehensive review of present facilities provided in workshops for the blind, and recommend such changes as are necessary to enable these workshops to fulfil their rôle in modern conditions.

The Working Party will sit under the Chairmanship of a senior official of my Department and includes members of local authorities, industry and the Blind Organisations concerned.

The following are the terms of reference and the names of members of the Working Party:

Terms of reference: To review the employment facilities currently provided in workshops for the blind; to consider (a) the rôle of the workshops in modern conditions; (b) the measures which may be needed to enable them to fulfil that rôle as efficiently and economically as possible; (c) the extent to which it is practicable and desirable to combine the provision of sheltered employment for the blind with similar provision for other seriously disabled persons; and to make recommendations".

— 15th June, 1959 13th June, 1960
Numbers registered as unemployed Percentage rate of Unemployment Numbers registered as unemployed Percentage rate of Unemployment
Males Females Total Males Females Total
Goole … 207 169 376 3.2 92 128 220 1.9
Knottingley … 81 32 113 1.7 55 21 76 1.1
Thorne … 226 156 382 4.4 181 199 380 4.4

Members of the Working Party:

Chairman Mr. J. G. Stewart, C.B., C.B.E. (Ministry of Labour).

Members

  • Mr. E. M. Amphlett, C.B.E., M.C. (Chairman of the Blind Persons Committee National Advisory Council on the Employment of the Disabled).
  • Mr. C. H. Beckett (National Industrial Officer, National Union of General and Municipal Workers).
  • Mr. A. Brown (Manager of the Glasgow Workshops for the Blind, Royal Glasgow Asylum for the Blind; member of the Joint Industrial Council for Scottish Workshops for the Blind).
  • Mr. J. C. Colligan, O.B.E. (Secretary-General, Royal National Institute for the Blind).
  • Miss M. O'Conor, O.B.E. (Chairman of the Children and Welfare Committee, County Councils Association).
  • Mr. R. A. Joseph, B.Sc., M.I.E.E. (Managing Director, Midland Electric Installation Company, Wolverhampton).
  • Mr. W. H. Pascoe (Secretary, National Association of Workshops for the Blind).
  • Mr. T. H. Smith. M.B.E. (General Secretary National League of the Blind).
  • Mrs. D. M. Kent (Ministry of Labour).

Secretary Mr. A. E. Wilson. M.B.E. (Ministry of Labour).