§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many, and what, aids and adaptations the Manpower Services Commission has financed to help disabled people in each of the last five years; and how many people have been abble to take up employment as a result.
§ Mr. Alan CLarkThe number of new aids financed by the Manpower Services Commission in each of the last five years was as follows:
Number 1980–81 775 1981–82 765 1982–83 1,067 1983–84 1,268 1984–85 1,640 The number of adaptations financed was:
Number 1980–81 83 1981–82 94 1982–83 117 1983–84 170 1984–85 145 Aids issued included electronic braille storage and retrieval devices, electric wheelchairs, telephone amplifiers and micro computers. Adaptations financed included ramps for wheelchair users, stairlifts and toilet alterations.
172Wcoverage of the statistics, while the OECD standardised rates take account of these differences as far as possible. The rates calculated by SOEC are based on the percentage of civilian working population, while the OECD standardised rates are calculated as a percentage of the total labour force.
Approximately 1,675 disabled people were able to take up employment during this period as a result of these measures.