§ Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will announce the outcome of his review of services for the disabled; and if he will now consult the National Advisory Council on the Employment of the Disabled and other interested parties.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanYes. My Department has recently concluded a wide-ranging review of the arrangements for helping disabled people with their employment problems. I have now considered this review and am ready to consult the National Advisory Council on the Employment of the Disabled and others concerned with these problems about how to improve our present policies and services for disabled people.
For this purpose, I shall publish over the next few months a number of discussion papers covering the various aspects of my Department's responsibilities in this field. The first paper, dealing with our specialised resettlement service for disabled people, was presented to the National Advisory Council at its meeting on 20th July. It proposes that a number of experiments should be put in hand as soon as possible in order to test ways of improving the service. One of the objects of these experiments will be to find out whether it is worth developing a resettlement service for certain people who are not covered by the present service but who have special employment problems and, if so, whether this should be a separate service or whether the scope of the present disablement resettlement service should be broadened so as to include such people.
The council will be considering these ideas and letting me have its views as 195W soon as possible. Copies of the paper prepared for it are available for the information of those interested in these matters. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House; they can also be obtained from my Department.
Further discussion papers are now being prepared, dealing with industrial rehabilitation and training for disabled people; with the quota system for the employment of disabled people; and with sheltered employment. These documents will be presented to the council; they will also form the basis for consultation on these matters with the many other bodies interested in this field.
The purpose of this review, which deals with matters of the utmost importance, is to seek positive ways of improving our present services for disabled people. The views and advice of the council and of all those concerned with helping the disabled are essential.