§ Mr. Parkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are at present undergoing training to become disablement resettlement officers in England and Wales; how this figure compares with the previous four years; and how much attention is paid during training to the needs of the mentally ill.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am advised by the Manpower Services Commission that 78 employment advisers in England and Wales have completed the seven-week specialist training course for disablement resettlement officers (DROs) at the National DRO Training Centre (Leeds) 269W since it opened on 2nd June 1975, and a further nine officers are currently undergoing training. All new DROs now attend this seven-week course and the needs of mentally ill and mentally handicapped people are given special emphasis during one week of the course.
Before June 1975, training for DROs consisted of four separate short courses, completed at intervals; course attendances of staff from England, Wales and Scotland were as follows:
To obtain an approximate number of staff attending all four courses, these figures should be divided by four.
Academic year 1972–3 … … 331 Academic year 1973–4 … … 317 Academic year 1974–5 … … 334 Separate figures for England and Wales, and complete records for more than three years, are not available.
§ Mr. Parkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many disablement resettlement officers have been working in England and Wales in the years 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am advised by the Manpower Services Commission that information for each of the last six years is not available, but the table below sets out the position at five staffing reviews undertaken in recent years. Information in the table relates to combined totals for England, Scotland and Wales. Separate national figures have not been maintained.
Date Full time* Part time† Senior Disablement Resettlement Officers October 1966 … 208 977 — November 1968 … 307 850 — September 1970 … 453 76 21 September 1972 … 473 58 21 March 1975 … 502 — 59 * In addition there are 31 blind persons resettlement officers who are responsible for the resettlement of blind people, 28 disablement resettlement officers working at employment rehabilitation centres and 13 disablement resettlement officers who have recently been attached to some of the larger hospitals. † Part-time disablement resettlement officers were those who spent between two to 30 hours a week on disablement resettlement officer work.