§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what action he is taking to increase the number of registered disabled persons employed in his Department and Royal ordnance factories; and when he expects to achieve the 3 per cent. target in each case.
§ Dr. GilbertRecruiting authorities in the Department, including the Royal ordnance factories, give special consideration to applications from registered disabled persons, who are accepted to fill vacancies provided that they are capable of doing the job and judged suitable in other respects against the normal criteria.
At present about 2½ per cent. of the staff of the Department as a whole are known to be registered disabled persons. Many other disabled people are employed by the Department but for personal reasons prefer not to register. It is not possible to predict when the 3 per cent. target will be formally met but the Department will continue to do its best to fit registered disabled people into suitable posts.