§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many firms in(a) Birkenhead, (b) Wirral and (c) Merseyside have been granted a permit not to employ their 3 per cent, quota of disabled workers; and what is the average number of registered disabled workers in these firms.
§ Mr. Jim LesterI am advised by the Manpower Services Commission that on 1 June 1979 the numbers of employers issued with permits to engage workers not registered as disabled, and the proportions of employers subject to the 3 per cent, quota scheme represented by these numbers, was as follows:
Birkenhead 22 (33.8 per cent.)
Wirral district 57 (39 per cent.) and
Merseyside county 342 (32.3 per cent.)
The issue of a permit does not exempt an employer from the requirement to employ his quota of registered disabled people. Information is not readily available about the numbers of registered disabled workers employed by these employers, but in respect of all employers subject to quota the proportions of total staffs who were registered as disabled was 2.2 per cent, in Birkenhead, 2.1 per cent, in Wirral district and 19 per cent, in Merseyside county.
The figures in this answer relate to the employment office areas which approximate to the local authority areas.