§ Mr. Thompsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what courses are available for training disablement resettlement officers.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that disablement resettlement officers of the Employment Service Agency are primarily employment advisers for disabled people and are trained as such. Employment adviser training, in interviewing skills and employment and occupational knowledge, is given on an in-service course lasting either four and a half weeks for an officer who has recently been employed in the employment service, or 25 weeks for an officer coming completely fresh to the service. Disablement resettlement officers are selected from among trained employment advisers, and on appointment are given an in-service specialist resettlement course lasting, in all, nine weeks. This comprises a three- and a two-week period at the National DRO Training Centre, Leeds, separated by a a two-week period of structured on-the-job training at a jobcentre, and an attachment to an employment rehabilitation centre. This is following by two weeks of attachments to hospitals and a local authority social services department. External training courses such as the Open University course "The handicapped person in the community" are available, and disablement resettlement officers are encouraged to undertake these at Agency expense. These arrangements are common to all disablement resettlement officers throughout Great Britain.