§ Mr. Brayasked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the number of persons trained or retrained at Government training centres in the North-West Region in each of the last six years to 30th September 1973; and what are his proposals for the next four years to 30th September 1977 or nearest convenient date.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkFollowing is the information:
Year ended 10th September Numbers trained or retrained at Government Training Centres in North West Region 1968 1,431 1969 1,462 1970 1,737 1971 1,649 1972 2,031 1973 2,173 These figures exclude trainees sponsored by their employers.
It is estimated that some 2,500 people will be trained at GTCs in the North-West Region in the year ending 30th September 1974; precise figures are not yet available for later years, but further expansion is planned.
The total trained in the North-West Region under Government schemes in 1973, to 30th September, is 6,383.
601W
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the rate of unemployment among employable disabled people seeking work, in the United Kingdom as a whole, at the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will give the rate at the same date for each of the preceding eight years.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithThe rate of unemployment amongst registered disabled people for September in each of the last nine years is set out below. My Department does not keep such information in relation to Northern Ireland.
per cent 1965 6.7 1966 6.9 1967 9.0 1968 9.9 1969 10.5 1970 11.3 1971 13.5 1972 13.9 1973 11.1
§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the wage levels of disabled workers and on the levels of earnings of persons working in Remploy as compared with average incomes in the manufacturing industries and the rates of pay for similar work done by non-disabled workers.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithAverage earnings of the severely disabled workers employed by Remploy are currently £21.60 a week for men and £18.08 for women. I regret that the other information sought is not available.
§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proposals he has to make firms employ the full quota of disabled persons.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithMy right hon. Friend cannot make all firms employ a 3 per cent. quota of registered disabled people because there are not enough such people available. If all unemployed registered disabled people were recruited by firms with quota obligations the average level of compliance would be only about 2.5 per cent. Every effort is, however, made by my Department to encourage as many firms as possible to fulfil the quota, and to this end inspection procedures have been greatly tightened up over602W the last two years. My right hon. Friend does not propose to change the way in which the quota scheme is administered whilst detailed consultations, following the recent publication of the consultative document on the scheme, are still in progress.
§ Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many disabled workers are unemployed in the Northern Region; how many have been out of work for more than six months; and how many local authorities are not employing the full quota of registered disabled persons.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithOn 8th October 6,589 registered disabled people were unemployed in the Northern Region. On 9th July, the latest date for which figures analysed by duration of unemployment are available, out of a total of 7,022 unemployed registered disabled people in the Northern Region 5,292 had been unemployed more than six months. The information sought about local authorities is not readily available.