§ Mr. Milneasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the method of negotiation carried out in regard to the wage rates paid to persons employed in industrial units and other centres for the handicapped.
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§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkWage rates for severely disabled workers employed by Remploy are negotiated between the company and a consortium of seven trade unions. Wage rates for those employed in sheltered workshops for blind people are negotiated by the National Joint Council for Workshops for the Blind. A great variety of different arrangements obtain in the other sheltered workshops run by local authorities or voluntary bodies for severely disabled sighted workers.
§ Mr. Milneasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the rates of payment made to persons employed in industrial units and other centres for the handicapped in Northumberland and throughout the country.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe basic rates for severely disabled men and women employed by Remploy outside London, including those in the factories at Ashington and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, are respectively £18.12 and £15.89 a week. Comparable figures for those employed in sheltered workshops for blind people, including those in the Palatine Products' Workshops for the Blind, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, are £21.80 and £20.19. A great variety of basic rates obtain in the other sheltered workshops run by local authorities or voluntary bodies for severely disabled sighted workers.