Sheltered Workshops (Hansard, 5 March 1992)

§ Mr. Howard

We are committed to providing sheltered employment for peole with severe disabilities. In the current financial year we are providing funds for an average of approximately 5,000 people in sheltered workshops and around 7,000 people under the sheltered placement scheme. In this financial year, in order to help meet the costs incurred by sponsors, we have already increased the annual grant ceiling per place for voluntary bodies by £280 to £3,800 and that for local authorities by £240 to £3,000. I am now further increasing these grant ceilings for this financial year by £100 to £3,900 and £3,100 respectively. The total increase this year over last are 10.8 per cent. and 12.3 per cent respectively.

In 1992–93 I am providing £3.15 million more than this year's provision for current expenditure for sheltered workshops and the sheltered placement scheme. These additional funds will again be used to help meet the costs of voluntary bodies and local authorities by increasing the 256W grant ceilings by a further £240 and £170 respectively to bring them to £4,140 for voluntary bodies and £3,270 for local authorities. This represents incrases of 6.2 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively.

In addition, I shall be making available just over £10 million in 1992–93 for capital expenditure which represents an increase of just over £4.1 million on this year. This money will be available to help meet the cost of essential refurbishment and development where that is clearly consistent with our long-term objectives for sheltered employment.

In order to ensure that we make the best use of available rsources, I have had to decide that the planned number of places nationally provided by these forms of sheltered provision taken together will remain the same in 1992–93 as 1991–92. However, previous patterns of turnover on the sheltered placement scheme indicate that some 1,000 existing places are likely to become vacant to allow new entrants to join the programme.

I will be considering future sheltered employment provision in the light of the review of the current funding arrangements for sheltered employment which is now in hand. I will also take into account the findings of research we have commissioned on aspects of the sheltered employment programme. The consultative document "Employment and Training for People with Disabilities" recommended that there should be a shift in the balance from workshop provision to sheltered placements. That view was widely supported in the course of consultations and it remains our intention. Sheltered placements promote integration and offer opportunities in a wider range of occupations and locations. Specific decisions on rebalancing will take account of the outcome of the funding review and the research. The numbers in workshops and placements may be subject to change in the light of these decisions.