§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what decision he has made regarding improving the employment prospects for disabled people.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerAgreement has been reached with my National Advisory Council on Employment of Disabled People as to how the development of the employment and training services provided for disabled people, which are now the responsibility of the Manpower Services Commission and its two executive agencies, should be tackled over the next few years. Details of these development programmes are contained in the plans published by the two agencies earlier this year. No decision has yet been taken about the long-term future of the quota scheme, but, as I indicated in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Wal-sall, South (Mr. George) on 3rd December—[Vol. 882, c. 396–7.]—I am taking immediate steps to enforce it more strictly in a limited number of areas. Consultations about the future of sheltered employment are continuing.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will consider subsidising either the disabled themselves or their employers in order to provide a worthwhile take-home pay for disabled people who work in open employment; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe advantages and disadvantages of subsidising employers directly to employ disabled people were discussed in my Department's consultative document on the quota scheme. The idea attracted very little support. However, the possibility of extending enclave arrangements for severely disabled people on the lines suggested in my Department's consultative document on sheltered employment has received more support and is being examined in the context of the wider consultations on that document. The question of payments to individual disabled workers was examined in the report to Parliament, published on 13th September by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services, on "Social Security Provision for Chronically Sick and Disabled People."
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will consider improving the pay structure for persons employed in sheltered workshops or Remploy so as to increase their take-home pay; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe pay structures for disabled workers in sheltered workshops run by local authorities and voluntary bodies are primarily matters for negotiation between the workers, or their representatives, and the employers concerned. I understand, however, that a settlement providing for improved pay in those workshops covered by the National Joint Council for Workshops for the Blind is likely to be agreed shortly.
Negotiations for a new settlement in Remploy, which are primarily the responsibility of the board and of the unions concerned, are currently in process. Moreover, as announced by Remploy's Chairman recently, my right hon. Friend has agreed, with the board, that a survey should be put in hand, in co-operation, it is hoped, with all concerned, to compare the earnings of Remploy's workers with those of the workers covered by the National Joint Council for Workshops for the Blind; and that if this shows a significant gap between the average earnings of the two groups discussions will be held to consider ways and means of increasing the earnings of Remploy's 489W workers, as circumstances and Government policies permit, so as to improve their comparative position.