Mr. Robert AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what assessment his Department has carried out as to the degree to which companies who display the two-tick symbol denoting them as positive about disabled people are complying with the criteria required.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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. Fogden to Mr. Robert Ainsworth, dated 7 December 1993:
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 to him about what assessment his Department has carried out into the degree to which companies who display the disability symbol are meeting the commitments expected of symbol users. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.Use of the disability symbol is a voluntary step taken by an organisation which considers that its employment practices are consistent with the commitments required of symbol users, and which wants to ensure that disabled people know this. Users must accept five commitments:to interview all job applicants with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for a job vacancy;to consult disabled employees to ensure that they can develop their abilities at work;to take steps to retain employees who become disabled to make sure they stay in employment;to ensure that key employees develop the awareness of disability needed to make employers' commitments work;and each year, to reviewing achievements and planning improvements.The first four commitments are intended as a starting point for good practice, the fifth to help them monitor progress and make sure that their commitments are working in practice.Employers preparing to adopt the symbol are encouraged to first discuss the symbol commitments in detail with a representative of my local Employment Service Placing, Assessment and Counselling Team (PACT). The PACT will advise on ways to meet the commitments within the particular organisation and, if necessary, suggest steps to be taken before 208W the organisation formally adopts the symbol. Although it will be most useful for employers to call on their PACT when first preparing to adopt the symbol they may seek advice at any stage. The PACT role in monitoring employers' use of the symbol is thus one of helping rather than policing.As far as possible the commitments involve specific, observable actions and will be self-policing. We believe that employers are unlikely to sign up unless they intend to take them seriously. We would of course take up with a symbol user any complaint received from disabled people that the commitments were not being met in their case and if, exceptionally, it became clear that the symbol was being abused, we would ask the firm to stop using it. In the main, however, we expect to resolve difficulties through discussion to resolve any misunderstandings about what the commitments involve in practice.I hope this is helpful.As decided by the Administrative 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.