§ Mr. Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the number of people in (a) full-time and (b) part-time employment in manufacturing industry for each year since 1973 to the present time; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe following table gives the available information for Great Britain from 1973 to 1984. Figures are given for males and females in full-time and part-time employment using information from the censuses of employment carried out in June each year from 1973 to 1978 and in September 1981, the most recent census for which results are available. Censuses were not carried out in 1979 or 1980 and the estimates of full-time and part-time employment for those years and for June 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984 relate only to females; separate estimates of males in full-time and part-time employment are not made between censuses of employment.
(c) workshops for blind people operated by (i) voluntary organisations and (ii) local authorities and (d) on sheltered employment placements within open industry (i) by Remploy, (ii) by local authorities and (iii) by voluntary organisations.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkAt 31 December 1984, 15,456 severely disabled people were employed in the following types of provision:
473W
Remploy *Local authorities Voluntary bodies Workshops for the blind — †2,549 (of whom 1,229 are sighted) — Other workshops 8,844 1,748 1,285 Sheltered placements (Sheltered Industrial Groups) 69 679 282 TOTAL 8,913 4,976 1,567 * Figures include 1,223 people (1,000 in workshops for the blind and 223 in other workshops) who are employed in workshops run by voluntary organisations acting as agents for local authorities,.
† The majority of workshops set up to provide employment for blind people now also employ sighted disabled workers.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated capital cost of the establishment of a 30-place sheltered workshop for disabled people.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe capital cost of each sheltered workshop varies in the light of such factors as the locality, type of building, the terms on which the property is to be acquired and the range and value of the plant and machinery that is required. However, the Manpower Services Commission estimate that the average cost of building and equipping a 30-place sheltered workshop would be in excess of £500,000.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the capitation grant ceiling which the Manpower Services Commission will pay on behalf of people in sheltered employment to (a) local authorities, (b) voluntary organisations and (c) Remploy in 1984–85 and 1985–86, respectively.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe final per capita ceilings for revenue support in 1984–85 have been set at £2,490 for workshops run by local authorities and £3,050 for those run by independent volluntary organisations. The Manpower Services Commission will be announcing provisional ceilings for 1985–86 as soon as possible, and I shall write to the right hon. Member when this information is available. Financial support for Remploy is on a different basis and is subject to a cash limit of £56.570 million in 1984–85 and £59.290 million in 1985–86.