Disablement Resettlement Officers (Hansard, 26 November 1993)

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth

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 M.E.G. Fogden to Mr. Gordon McMaster, dated 26 November 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 assessing the performance of Disablement Resettlement officers and setting targets and performance indicators for them. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. We no longer use the term Disablement Resettlement Officers. During 1992–93 Placing, Assessment and Counselling Teams were set up to provide a comprehensive and local specialist employment service for people with disabilities and employers. The Teams provide many of the services previously delivered by Disablement Resettlement Officers, the Disablement Advisory Service and most of the assessment element of Employment Rehabilitation Centres. Placing, Assessment and Counselling Teams are staffed by Disability Employment Advisers who are experienced in placing people wth disabilities into jobs. They offer professional advice and support to help improve the job prospects of people with disabilities and encourage employers to take on or keep people with disabilities. The Annual Performance Agreement with the Secretary of State for Employment sets a target for the number of unemployed people with disabilities to be placed into jobs. Targets are also set for the number of people benefiting from special scheme provision, the number of people starting rehabilitation programmes, the number of people in sheltered employment and the number of employers who satisfy the conditions to use the disability symbol. Achievements against all these targets are used to assess the performance of the Placing, Assessment and Counselling Teams. I hope this is helpful. 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.