HC Deb 18 May 1972 vol 837 cc172-7W
48. Mr. Kaufman

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many redundancies have been announced in the Manchester travel-to-work area since June, 1970.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Redundancies involving 21,880 workpeople have been notified to my Department in the Manchester travel-to-work area during the period 9th June, 1970, to 16th May, 1972. inclusive.

49. Mr. Kaufman

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what, respectively, for the months of June, 1970, and May, 1972, in the Manchester travel-to-work area, in absolute figures and, where relevant, percentages, were the total number of unemployed, the number of wholly unemployed, the total number of male adult unemployed, the total number of job vacancies and the number of vacancies for male adults.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Following is the available information:

have registered under the Disabled Persons (Unemployment) Act, 1944; the number of registered disabled people who are unemployed; the percentage of registered disabled people who have been unemployed, and the national average unemployment figure for all workers.

Mr. Dudley Smith

The disabled persons register is counted in April of each

Number of disabled people who have registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 Number of registered disabled people who are unemployed Percentage of registered disabled people who are unemployed Total numbers registered as unemployed in Great Britain(000's)
April—
1971*. 620,691 80,172 12.6 773.8
1970 634,336 72,116 11.4 616.7
1969 645,545 68,586 10.6 557.7
1968 654,788 65,350 10.0 578.4
1967 655,379 58,043 8.9 567.4
1966 654,483 45,192 6.9 307.5
1965 658,925 48,317 7.4 341.2
1964 655,878 56,104 8.6 411.6
1963 653,362 62,415 9.6 604.6
1962 656,402 52,323 8.0 438.8
* April, 1972 figures not yet available.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the figures for each of the last 10 years for the number of firms with over 20 workers; the percentage of such firms which do not fulfilling their 3 per cent. quota of disabled workers; the number of such firms not fulfilling their 3 per cent. quota, and the number of additional jobs that would have been available for registered disabled persons if these firms had fulfilled their quota.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Information about quota compliance is given in the following table. The figures for the years 1962 and 1963 are not strictly comparable (see note).

Year Number of firms with 20 or more workers Percentage of firms in Col. 2 which do not fulfil their 3 per cent. quota of registered disabled workers Number of firms in Col. 2 which do not fulfil the 3 per cent. quota of registered disabled people
(1) (2) (3) (4)
1961 65,600 38.6 25,340
1962 36,593 42.1 15,389
1963 35,357 42.1 13,899
1964 64,760 45.2 29,271
1965 66,361 46.8 31,038
1966 65,576 48.3 31,661
1967 65,332 52.3 34,176
1968 63,903 53.7 34,319

year. The following table sets out the numbers for the last ten years, together with comparable figures for unemployment.

1969 63,254 55.5 35,102
1970 63,564 57.3 36,396
1971 62,537 58.2 36,382

Notes:

Surveys in 1962 and 1963 were made in respect of a selection of firms having a quota obligation with less than 500 staff and all firms with more than 500 staff.

It is not possible to calculate the number of additional jobs becoming available to registered disabled people if all firms with a quota obligation fulfilled it. Surveys have shown that some firms which fail to fulfil their quota could do so if they persuaded all their eligible disabled employees to register under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944. Fulfilment of the quota by such firms would not necessarily make any additional jobs available for disabled people.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give, for each of the last 10 years, the number of firms with over 20 workers not fulfilling their 3 per cent. quota which were issued with permits enabling them to employ non-disabled people when vacancies arose, and the number of such firms not employing 3 per cent. disabled, which were not issued with permits enabling them to employ non-disabled people when vacancies arose.

Mr. Dudley Smith

This information is given in the following table. Figures are not available for the years 1961, 1962 and 1963.

Year Number of firms not fulfilling their 3 per cent. quota who were issued with permits to engage persons not registered as disabled Number of firm not fulfilling their 3 per cent. quota who were not issued with permits to engage persons not registered as disabled
1961
1962
1963
1964 15,479 13,792
1965 18,510 12,528
1966 19,662 11,999
1967 21,228 12,948
1968 21,021 13,298
1969 20,647 14,455
1970 22,150 14,246
1971 21,534 14,848

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the figures for the last 10 years for the

Year
Information Given
1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971
The number of registered disabled persons in sheltered employment* 11,641 11,701 12,093 12,407 12,292 12,327 12,777 12,808 12,957 12,744
The number of unemployed registered disabled persons who are considered unlikely to obtain employment except under special conditions 5,711 6,166 6,439 6,813 7,351 8,328 8,484 10,049 10,749 12,209
The number of sheltered workshops (including Remploy factories) 202 205 209 207 210 210 209 204 205 208
* During the period, the numbers of blind people in workshops for the blind fell by 1,278 while the numbers of other severely disabled people in sheltered employment rose by about 2,300.

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give, for each of the last 10 years, the total cost of the Government subsidy for sheltered workshops, the average cost per severely disabled worker of the Government subsidy for sheltered workshops, the average earnings of male disabled workers in

Year
1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67
£ £ £ £ £
Total cost of Government subsidy for sheltered workshopts. 4,452,083 4,745,834 4,960,239 5,137,203 5,389,529
Average cost per severely disabled worker of Government subsidy for sheltered workshops. 382 406 410 414 438
Average earnings of male disabled workers in Remploy Ltd.* Not available 8.42 10.79 10.95 12.54
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.
Percentage relationship of the average earnings of male disabled workers in Remploy Ltd. to average male industrial earnings.* Not available 50.3 59.6 55.9 61.8

number of registered disabled peope in sheltered employment, the number of unemployed registered disabled persons who are considered unlikely to obtain employment except under special conditions, the number of sheltered workshops, the number of local authorities that provide sheltered workshops, and the number of jobs available in sheltered workshops.

Mr. Dudley Smith

As to the number of local authorities providing sheltered workshops, and the number of jobs available, there are difficulties of definition about which I shall be writing to the hon. Member.

For the rest, the information is as follows:

sheltered workshops, and the percentage relationship of the average earnings of male disabled workers in sheltered indutry to the average male industrial earnings.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Following is the information:

Year
1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72
£ £ £ £ £
Total cost of Government subsidy for sheltered workshops. 5,723,041 6,337,428 7,116,319 8,397,118 8,602,689
Average cost per severely disabled worker of Government subsidy for sheltered workshops. 464 496 556 648 675
Average earnings of male disabled workers in Remploy Ltd.* 12.75 13.13 14.71 16.17 17.60
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.
Percentage relationship of the average earnings of male disabled workers in Remploy Ltd. to average male industrial earnings.* 59.6 57.1 59.2 57.6 56.9
* No figures are available for average earnings in other sheltered workshops.
The Remploy figures relate to a 40 hour week, but actual earnings and hours are very slightly less. The average male industrial earnings figures used for comparison relate to a higher figure of average hours worked (varying from 47 in 1962 to 44.7 in 1971).

Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the names of all those who have been members of the National Advisory Council for the Employment of the Disabled during the last 10 years, giving for each member his credentials, his date of appointment, the number of meetings attended since appointment, and the proportion of meetings since the date of appointment that have been attended.

Mr. Dudley Smith

The Council is reconstituted every three years and I think no useful purpose would be served by referring to the composition of the Council over the last 10 years. I would, however, refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 28th March to the hon. Member for Kensington, South (Sir B. Rhys Williams) regarding present membership and the length of service of individual members. In accordance with the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act, 1944, the Council includes equal numbers of persons appointed after consultation with employers' and workers' organisations respectively and others, including members of the medical profession, who have a wide interest in disablement resettlement problems. The Council meets quarterly and meetings are well attended. To comment publicly on individual attendance records would be invidious and I do not propose to do so.—[Vol. 834, c. 73–4.]