§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the total number of registered blind and of registered disabled employed in the South-East Region and the percentage of the total number of employed in the region which this represents, together with details of the total number of personnel employed by his Department in the region in assisting with the placing of registered blind and disabled.
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§ Mr. Dudley SmithI regret that the information requested in the first two parts of the Question is not available as statistics about the number of registered disabled people in employment cover only those firms with statutory obligations to employ a quota of such people. As to the third part of the Question, 166 disablement resettlement officers and blind persons resettlement officers are located in my Department's two regions in the South East.
§ Mr. Juddasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish details of the number of registered blind and disabled at present unemployed in the South-East Region and of the length of time for which they have been unemployed; whether he will undertake a special study of the employment prospects for more severely disabled as compared with prospects for less severely disabled; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe total number of registered disabled people, including blind people, unemployed in my Department's London and South Eastern and Eastern and Southern regions on 11th December 1972 was 9,588 and 6,933 respectively.
The following table gives an analysis of unemployment by duration on 10th
Registered Disabled Persons Year (April) (1) Number Registered (2) Number Unemployed (3) Percentage Unemployed (4) National unemployment rate for all worker (5) 1963 … … … … 653,362 62,415 9.6 2.5 1964 … … … … 655,878 56,104 8.6 1.7 1965 … … … … 658,925 48,318 7.4 1.4 1966 … … … … 654,483 45,192 6.9 1.3 1967 … … … … 655,379 58,048 8.9 2.3 1968 … … … … 654,788 65,350 10.0 2.4 1969 … … … … 645,545 68,586 10.6 2.4 1970 … … … … 634,336 72,116 11.4 2.6 1971 … … … … 620,691 80,172 12.6 3.2 1972 … … … … 610,107 91,063 14.9 4.1
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the figures for each of the last 10 years of the number of firms with over 20 workers, the percentage of such firms who do not fulfil their 3 per cent. quota of disabled workers, the number of such firms not fulfilling their 3 per cent. quota, and the
336WJuly 1972, which is the latest date for which such figures are available:—
Number of registered disabled people, including blind people, unemployed Number of weeks unemployed London and South Eastern Region Eastern and Southern Region Up to 6 weeks … 1,656 936 7 to 13 weeks … 1,159 797 14 to 26 weeks … 1,432 1,022 27 to 52 weeks … 1,978 1,377 Over 52 weeks … 3,529 3,027 Total … 9,754 7,159 The employment prospects of severely disabled people in the South East and the need for further sheltered employment facilities for them are kept under regular review.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the figures for each of the last 10 years for, respectively, the number of disabled persons who have registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) 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 SmithThe information required is as follows:—
number of additional jobs that would have been available for registered disabled persons if these firms had fulfilled their quota.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe information required in the first parts of the Question is given in the table below for the years 337W 1964–72, inclusive. No comparable figures are available for 1963. I regret
Year (1) Number of firms with 20 or more workers(2) Percentage of firms in column (2) which do not fulfil their 3 per cent. quota of registered disabled persons (3) Number of firms in column (2) which do not fulfil the 3 per cent. quota of registered disabled persons (4) 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 1969 … … … … 63,254 55.5 35,102 1970 … … … … 63,564 57.3 36,396 1971 … … … … 62,537 58.2 36,382 1972 … … … … 60,179 57.8 34,794
§ Mr. Ashleyasked 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 who 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 who were not issued with permits enabling them to employ non-disabled people when vacancies arose.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThis information is given in the following table. Figures are not available for the year 1963.
Year Number of firms not fulfilling their 3 per cent, quota which were issued with permits to engage persons not registered as disabled Number of firms not fulfilling their 3 per cent, quota which were not issued with permits to engage persons not registered as disabled 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 1972 … 25,875 8,919
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will state the number of firms who were prosecuted in the last 10 years for not complying with the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithOne; but there is a further case pending in a magistrates' court.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he is satisfied with
338Wthat the information requested in the last part of the Question is not available.
the operation of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act; and what additional or alternative legislation he is considering;
(2) if he will now consider seeking legislation to compel all employers to pay for a 2 per cent. quota of disabled workers whether they employ them or not;
(3) if he will consider seeking legislation to provide for a State subsidy to all severely disabled workers in open industry, the degree of disablement to be assessed in percentage terms, employers to pay workers accordingly, and the subsidy to provide the remainder.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe operation of the quota scheme under the Disabled Persons (Empoyment) Act 1944, and the possibility of levies or subsidies on the lines suggested in the hon. Member's other two Questions, are being examined as part of my Department's current review of its policies and services for disabled people; and my right hon. Friend will shortly be consulting the National Advisory Council on the Employment of the Disabled and other bodies concerned on whether any changes in the present arrangements are necessary.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked 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, and the average earnings of male disabled workers in sheltered industry.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI regret that it is not possible to add to the information 339W given in my reply to the hon. Member of 18th May 1972 as the figures for the financial year 1972–73 are not yet available.—[Vol. 837, c. 175–8.]
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many disabled people who are only capable of sheltered employment are at present unemployed; and what percentage this number is of the total number of registered disabled.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe number of registered disabled people considered unlikely to be capable of employment except under sheltered conditions who were unemployed as at 11th December 1972, the latest date available, was 12,239. They represented 2 per cent. of the total number of registered disabled people.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made of the numbers of people who are disabled or very severely disabled who are not registered.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithNo precise estimate is possible. But there is evidence to suggest that there may be as many unregistered, but registrable, disabled people in employment as there are registered disabled people in employment; and that about one-quarter of unemployed disabled people known to the Department are not registered under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944.
§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many shipyards in Scotland employ their full legal quota of registered disabled; and what steps he has taken to ensure that employers obey the law in this respect.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI regret that information on the first point is not available, as the relevant statistics are not analysed according to industry. On the second point, as I said in a Written Answer to the hon. Member on 5th December 1972, our disablement resettlement officers are always concerned to ensure that employees should comply with the law. Moreover, procedures for enforcement have been improved and since September 1971 authorised inspectors examine the records of a random sample of all employers with a quota obligation.
My Department has recently concluded, as part of a general review of its policies 340W and services to help disabled people, a review of the operation of the quota scheme. My right hon. Friend intends shortly to consult the National Advisory Council on the Employment of the Disabled and others concerned on whether any changes are necessary.