§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 9 January,Official Report, column 147, when her Department or the then Department of Employment first became aware of the fact that 96 per cent. of employers would not be covered by the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995; what plans she has to amend the Act to involve more employers; and what is her current estimate of unemployment amongst disabled people. [9726]
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§ Mrs. GillanThe Government first consulted on the possible introduction of a new statutory right of non-discrimination against disabled people in the document "A Consultation on Government measures to Tackle Discrimination Against Disabled People", published in July 1994. The document sought views on the exclusion of firms with fewer than 20 employees. In preparing that document, the Government were aware that about 95 per cent. of employers would not be covered by legislation if such small employers were excluded, but that about 80 per cent. of employees work for employers who would be within the legislation.
The Government have no immediate plans to amend the Disability Discrimination Act to bring more employers within its scope. However, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment is required under the Act to review section 7 of the Act—the small firms exemption—within five years of its coming into force, and to give Parliament the opportunity to debate the issue.
Estimates from the last labour force survey show that, in the summer of 1995, there were 330,000 unemployed people of working age in Great Britain who said they had a health problem or a disability expected to last for more than one year. The survey does not currently enable us to estimate the number of disabled people, as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act, who are unemployed.