§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what improvements have taken place in rehabilitation provided by his Department for the newly blind to allow them to improve their work prospects; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonThe Manpower Services Commission provides financial and administrative support to the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Society for Welfare and Teaching of the Blind in Scotland in respect of rehabilitation facilities provided by these organisations for the blind and partially sighted.
In 1980–81, the RNIB received £375,000 from the MSC towards the cost of running its facilities at Torquay and 250 blind or partially-sighted attended courses of employment rehabilitation.
During the last two years the RNIB has, with the MSC's agreement, increased the level of staffing and the range of its workshop provision at Torquay, new technology equipment for the blind has been made available, such as transcribers and audio calculators, and a close circuit TV and video system has recently been installed.
Regular surveys undertaken by the MSC in conjunction with the RNIB ensure that provision in the centre keeps pace with developments elsewhere in rehabilitation methods.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many registered blind and registered partially sighted people obtained jobs in open industry in each year since 1968; how many registered blind and registered partially sighted people were seeking open employment in April each year since 1968; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonInformation is not available in the precise form requested. However the total numbers of registered and unregistered disabled people who were blind or partially sighted and were helped into open employment either by the Manpower Services Commission or the Royal National Institute for the Blind in each year ending 30 September since 1968 and those who were seeking open employment in April each year since 1968 are shown in the following tables.
298W
Placings of registered and unregistered disabled people who were blind and partially sighted in Great Britain Year to 30 September Placings 1968 774 1969 731 1970 683 1971 595 1972 578 1973 802 1974 771 1975 538 1976 468 1977 507 1978 579 1979 624 1980 543 1981 356
Registered disabled people who were blind and partially sighted seeking open employment in Great Britain At April Number 1968 2,484 1969 2,624 1970 2,643 1971 2,986 1972 3,565 1973 3,014 1974 2,409 1975 2,625 1976 3,103 1977 3,084 1978 3,052 1979 2,820 1980 2,809 1981 3,573
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many registered blind people, registered partially sighted people and sighted disabled people were employed in workshops for the blind and disabled during each year since 1960; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonThe numbers of severely disabled people working in sheltered employment in Great Britain for the years 1960 to 1981 are given in the following table. A combined figure is given for registered blind and partially sighted workers. Separate figures are not available.
Numbers of registered sighted and blind/partially sighted severely disabled people in sheltered employment for the period 1960–1981 Year Sighted Blind/Partially Sighted Total 1960 7,370 3,823 11,193 1961 7,282 3,788 11,070 1962 7,593 3,803 11,396 1963 7,647 3,790 11,437 1964 8,030 3,742 11,772 1965 8,492 3,793 12,285 1966 8,711 3,426 12,137 1967 8,940 3,279 12,219 1968 9,475 3,107 12,582 1969 9,763 2,945 12,708 1970 9,996 2,839 12,835 1971 10,136 2,720 12,856 1972 10,503 2,569 13,072 1973 11,003 2,445 13,448 1974 11,217 2,358 13,575 1975 11,329 2,268 13,597 1976 11,598 2,157 13,755 1977 11,239 2,106 13,345 1978 11,294 2,017 13,311 1979 11,873 2,026 13,899 1980 11,966 1,906 13,872 1981 12,049 1,790 13,839