§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the figures of labour turnover of the disabled and the percentage of disabled people who are unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the job opportunities for the disabled.
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§ Mr. Dudley SmithNo separate figures of labour turnover are available for registered disabled workers.
Since registration as a disabled person is voluntary, it is not possible to say what percentage is unemployed, but of those who have chosen to register with the Department, 84,072 or 13.5 per cent. were registered as unemployed on 13th September, 1971.
Any improvement in job opportunities for disabled people depends upon an upturn in employment generally, but the measures which I announced in the House on 25th March last in reply to the hon. Member for Harborough (Mr. Farr) are now fully under way and it is hoped that
PERCENTAGE RATES OF UNEMPLOYMENT Skelmersdale* Males Females Total October, 1971 (provisional) 7.8 3.3 6.1 October, 1970 4.5 1.3 3.3 October, 1969 2.9 0.9 2.2 October, 1968 2.7 0.9 1.9 Merseyside Development Area October, 1971 (provisional) 8.5 2.8 6.4 Northern Western Region October, 1971 (provisional) 6.1 1.8 4.5 Great Britain October, 1971 (provisional) 5.2 1.6 3.9 * The rates are for the Ormskirk and Skelmersdale travel-to-work area and cannot be calculated for Skelmersdale alone.