§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the number and percentage of disabled people employed by his Department and associated agencies over the past five years; and what are the projected figures for the next five years.
§ Dr. Sir John WheelerThe number and proportion of staff in the Northern Ireland civil service who self-declared a disability in the years 1991 to 1994 are as set out in the table. The figures in brackets refer to the number and proportion of staff declaring a disability who were, or who had previously been, registered as disabled.
Number Percentage of service 1991 1,290(361) 4.4(1.2) 1992 1,262(431) 4.3(1.5) 1993 1,282(463) 4.3(1.5) 1994 1,300(476) 4.2(1.6) Figures for 1990 are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Projected figures are also not available.
The number of registered disabled people working in the Northern Ireland civil service under the sheltered placement scheme has risen from 15 in 1991 to 80 in 1994.
One registered disabled person—0.5 per cent. of the work force—joined the small civil service cadre of Northern Ireland in 1994. There have been no other registered disabled employees in the period from 1990 to 1994.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the budget allocated by his Department and associated agencies for each of the next five years for, and how many staff or staff hours equivalent have been allocated to achieve the objectives of, the programme for action to achieve equality of opportunity in the civil service for disabled people.
§ Dr. Sir John WheelerIn the Northern Ireland civil service expenditure aimed at advancing equality of opportunity for people with disabilities includes costs arising from staff time, monitoring, training, special aids and equipment, modification of buildings and accommodation etcetera which cannot be disaggregated. The number of staff or staff hours equivalent allocated to achieve the objectives of the code of practice on the employment of people with disabilities in the Northern Ireland civil service cannot be estimated as the successful implementation of the code requires the commitment not only of dedicated equal opportunities specialists but of other human resource specialists, trainers and individual line managers throughout the service.
Similarly, dedicated expenditure by the home civil service cadre of the Northern Ireland Office on the programme for action to achieve equality of opportunity in the civil service for disabled people cannot be disaggregated.