HC Deb 04 November 1992 vol 213 cc302-3W
Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training and enterprise councils have sought and been granted dispensation from the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944.

Mr. McLoughlin

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Tony Lloyd,dated 4 November 1992:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question, about Training and Enterprise Councils and the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944. The day to day administration of the procedures which flow from the 1944 Act is something which falls within the responsibility delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

You asked how many training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) have been granted dispensations from the Act. I regret that data is not collected centrally on the extent to which permits are issued, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, to particular kinds of employer.

As you may know, the 1944 Act established the Quota Scheme for the employment of registered disabled people, under which employers who have twenty or more workers have a duty to employ a quota of registered disabled people. The standard quota is currently 3 per cent. of an employer's total workforce. Employers not meeting the quota have a further duty under the Act, to engage suitable registered disabled people, if any are available, to fill vacancies which arise. A below quota employer must not engage anyone other than a registered disabled person without first obtaining a permit to do so, and must not discharge a registered disabled worker without reasonable cause. The issue of a permit does not grant the employer exemption from their duties and obligations under the Act.

My placing Assessment and Counselling Teams (PACTs) do monitor the extent to which employers in their areas are complying with the requirements, including keeping details of permits issued by my Disability Employment Advisers to below quota employers. Each year PACTs provide a statistical return on quota compliance in their areas. These, in turn, are used by my Head Office to produce national data. However this geographical information does not enable data to be extracted centrally in respect of particular sectors or types of employer. Therefore, I am not able to provide the information you have asked for in relation to TECs.

As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.