§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will urge the ILO to ensure that deaf people are represented at all conferences concerned with the training for employment of handicapped people.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerILO conferences of this type usually relate to the needs of handicapped people as a general group. The ILO and the Government are well aware of the need to bear in mind the interests of deaf and other handicapped people when international measures concerning training for employment are contemplated.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many profoundly deaf people there are on the Disabled Persons Register; and how many are unemployed.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, in April 1975, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 13,046 deaf people on the Disabled Persons Register, of whom 860 were unemployed. Among these, 7,041 and 444 respectively were deaf without speech.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment in how many employment exchanges, and in what proportion 261W of the total, there is either a disablement resettlement officer or any other person who specialises in the employment problems of the profoundly deaf.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI understand from the Manpower Services Commission that the Employment Service Agency has some 950 employment offices and jobcentres. One or more of the Agency's 530 disablement resettlement officers (DROs) are based at 356 offices, and most visit linked offices as necessary. In addition, there are 60 senior disablement resettlement officers who each cover one or more employment service district(s). The employment problems of all disabled people, including those who are profoundly deaf, are the concern of this specialist service.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many profoundly deaf people have attended Government training centres in the past year.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that statistics of individual disabilties of trainees sponsored by the Training Services Agency on courses at skillcentres are not readily available, but profoundly deaf people have been accepted for training where training could be given largely by demonstration methods, or trainees could lip-read or communicate by sign language, or assistance could be made available from local societies for the deaf.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment what help with communication problems is given to profoundly deaf people who attend Government training centres.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that staff in skillcentres do not receive specific training in dealing with profoundly deaf people, but all instructors are trained in communication and instructional techniques. This is supplemented by instructional literature issued to all trainees, and instructors may call on the services of local deaf societies to solve individual problems.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people in his Department specialise in the employment problems of the deaf.
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§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe employment problems of all disabled people, including the deaf, are the concern of the specialist disablement resettlement service of the Employment Service Agency. There are about 530 full-time disablement resettlement officers whose special training in counselling, interviewing, job finding and resettlement for all disabled people includes the particular needs of the deaf.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he is satisfied that deaf people are given sufficient help and support so that they can obtain jobs for which their intellectual ability makes them suitable;
(2) what provision there is within his Department for advice, counselling and retraining of those adults who become the profoundly deaf and as a result have to change their employment.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe employment problems of all disabled people, including those who are deaf, are the concern of the Disablement Resettlement Service of the Employment Service Agency. I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that they are satisfied that the range of services provided by the Agency and by the Training Services Agency is sufficiently comprehensive to enable deaf people to obtain jobs to suit their intellectual ability. These services include the specialist attention of 530 disablement resettlement officers, who are available to advise about suitable employment; rehabilitation and in-depth assessment and guidance at any of the Agency's 26 employment rehabilitation centres; the loan of certain special aids to employment if these are required; and the training services available under the Training Opportunities Scheme and other training arrangements made by the Training Services Agency.
Deaf people who complete courses at employment rehabilitation centres achieve above-average success in terms of getting jobs and going on to training—70 per cent. compared with 62 per cent. at six months follow-up stage.
In some cases severe communication difficulties make training impracticable, but profoundly deaf people who could communicate verbally and visually have taken courses, particularly in residential 263W training colleges for disabled people, and have been successfully resettled. Profoundly deaf people who possess the requisite qualifications for entry to professional or degree courses are eligible for help under the Training Services Agency's professional training scheme.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will hold a departmental seminar to consider whether the services provided for the deaf, including those born deaf and those going deaf later, are enabling deaf people to realise their employment potential, and to consider the ways in which such services could be improved.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerNot at present. Continuing contact between the organisations most closely concerned, including informal discussions which have already taken place between the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and the Employment Services Agency, ensure that the needs of the deaf are kept under review.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will detail the liaison that takes place between officials of his Department and schools for the deaf to inform deaf school leavers of employment prospects and assist them to acquire qualifications thereby, so reducing the chance of unemployment.
§ Mr. John FraserOfficers of the Careers Service, which is administered by local education authorities, under the guidance of my right hon. Friend, work in close co-operation with schools for the deaf in order to help deaf school leavers obtain suitable employment. In the course of giving vocational guidance, careers officers will advise these young people, their parents, schools and colleges, on the vocational implications of educational choice and on development in further and higher education which have vocational implications.