HC Deb 03 July 2003 vol 408 cc369-70W
Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people(a) in the UK, (b) in the UK workforce and (c) of working age are classified as having a disability; and what percentage of the total this figure represents in each case. [122644]

John Healey

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Jenkins, dated 2 July 2003: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people with disabilities.(122644) The attached table gives information from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), for the three month period ending February 2003, for disabled people of working age in total and for those in employment. Comparable information is not available for people younger or older than the working age group. The definition of 'disabled' includes those who have a current disability covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, or a work-limiting disability, or both.

Disabled people1 of working age2, United Kingdom
Not seasonally adjusted
December 2002 to February 2003 Total (thousand) Disabled (thousand) Disabled as percentage of total
All of working age 37,152 7,187 19.3
of which:
In employment 27,695 3,517 12.7
1 People with a disability covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, or a work-limiting disability, or both.
2 Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.

Note:

These LFS estimates have not been interim-adjusted to reflect the 2001 Census results.

Source:

ONS Labour Force Survey.