HC Deb 28 October 1986 vol 103 cc125-6W
Mr. Wareing

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many complaints claiming discrimination against disabled people he received in each year from 1980 to 1985, inclusive; and what his findings were and responses in each case;

(2) how many representations about cases of alleged discrimination against disabled people he has received in each of the years 1980 to 1985 and in the first nine months of the current year; how many such allegations were proved; and what action he took in each case.

Mr. Major

[pursuant to the replies, 24 July 1986, c. 437, and 21 October 1986, c. 868]: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the cases sent to us to investigate as a result of the invitation issued at that time to responsible organisations and hon. Members by my hon.

Number of maternal deaths by selected country of birthplace of woman: underlying cause (i) direct (ii) indirect maternal deaths England and Wales 1979 to 1984
Year
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Country of birthplace1
(a) United Kingdom
(i) 56 45 39 31 40 36
(ii) 5 4 7 3 6 10
(b) Republic of Ireland
(i)
(ii)
(c) New Commonwealth
(i) 8 11 6 5 4 5

Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Sir H. Rossi) to send him details of such cases. Since 1 January 1983, 27 cases have been sent to us for consideration and the number investigated in each year was as follows:

Cases
1983 22
1984 3
1985 2
1986 (first 9 months) None

There are five cases still under consideration. In those cases where investigations have been completed: We judged there was no evidence of discrimination in five cases. There were genuine problems of access in four cases. Two cases involved commercial judgments, the basis of which could not effectively be checked. One case concerned maritime regulations laid before Parliament. One case was a complaint by a disabled person against an employee who was subsequently disciplined for acting against the general policy of the employer. One case involved a conflict of opinion over the application of "right to buy" housing legislation. In three cases insufficient information was provided to enable inquiries to be pursued. Three cases involved judgments by a potential employer, or in one case, a motor sport event organiser, that the individual's disability adversely affected their ability to perform the job in question effectively or safely. In two cases the problem was resolved in favour of the complainant during the course of our inquiries.