§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what study his Department has made of the work of the voluntary works councils in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. OppenheimI have been asked to reply.
The Government encourage voluntary employee involvement and monitors significant developments in
Requests from Housing Executive Requests from other sources Quarter ending Number of requests received Number of assessments carried out Number waiting at end of Quarter Number waiting at end of Quarter March 1994 156 126 167 297 June 1994 177 94 218 313 September 1994 142 166 237 400 December 1994 177 145 216 364 Total 1994 652 531 — —
§ Mr. MallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he proposes to take to reduce the length of time taken to process occupational therapy reports in connection with Northern Ireland Housing Executive grant applications.
§ Mr. MossThe health and social services boards have developed close working links with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and are exploring how the time taken to produce occupational therapy reports can be reduced. As a result, it has recently been agreed that some public sector minor adaptations can be processed directly by the Housing Executive freeing up time for occupational therapists to process other cases more speedily.
The Department of Health and Social Services will publish a charter for community services next month. The charter will set standards for getting occupational therapy assessments for housing adaptations under way and for completion within agreed time scales. Each board will be asked to produce an action plan to achieve the targets.
§ Mr. MallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many(a) full-time and (b) part-time occupational therapists are employed in the Newry and Mourne unit of management; and how many are currently not at work due to (i) sickness or (ii) other leave.
§ Mr. MossThere are 16 full-time and no part-time occupational therapists employed by Newry and Mourne health and social services trust. One member of staff is currently not at work for a reason other than sickness.
§ Mr. MallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he proposes to take to increase the number of occupational therapists stationed in the Southern health board area.
§ Mr. MossIt is the responsibility of individual provider units and trusts to decide, in the light of available resources, on the number of occupational therapists36W this field but have not made any specific study of voluntary works councils in the United Kingdom.