HC Deb 21 July 1980 vol 989 cc9-10W
Mr. David Young

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what action his Department is taking to see that companies in the private sector employ a proportion of disabled persons.

Mr. Jim Lester

The Manpower Services Commission administers on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State the provisions of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944, which places a duty on employers with 20 or more workers to try to employ 3 per cent. registered disabled people in their work force. The MSC's disablement resettlement officers not only conduct an annual inquiry into employers' quota positions but approach them throughout the year to find jobs for both registered and unregistered disabled people.

There are difficulties associated with the operation of the present quota scheme, which is being reviewed. As stated in my reply of 30 June to the hon. Member for Wood Green (Mr. Race).—[Vol. 987, c. 376–7]—the aim of the review and of other measures currently being undertaken is to help improve employment opportunities for disabled people in the private and public sectors alike.

Mr. David Young

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the average percentage of the disabled work force in (a) private industry and (b) public sector employment; and what is the last date for which figures are available.

Mr. Jim Lester

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that on 1 June 1979—the latest date for which information is available—1.8 per cent. of staff employed in the private sector were registered as disabled, and the comparable figure for the public sector was 1.3 per cent. These figures should be used with caution since they relate only to those disabled people—believed to be in the minority—who have chosen to register in accordance with the Disabled Persons (Employment) Acts 1944 and 1958, and who work for employers with 20 or more staff.

There are no figures available which show what percentages of the total disabled working population are employed in the different sectors.