Written question asked by Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 9 April 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 April 2001. It was answered by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour) on Monday, 23 April 2001 on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment.

Dept for Education and Employment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of the legislation relating to the employment of people with learning difficulties.

Answer: Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of the legislation relating to the employment of people with learning difficulties. [158347] Ms Hodge: My Department monitors Employment Tribunal cases and case law on the employment provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). It also carries out targeted research on how the DDA's employment provisions are working. "Monitoring the Disability Discrimination Act 1995--Phase 2" (an interim report published in March 2000 by Income Data Services Ltd.), provides a statistical analysis of Employment Tribunal cases and a commentary on case law. Of the 487 Employment Tribunal cases where the disability was known and the case reached a hearing, 18 concerned specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia) and 3 severe learning difficulties. The Disability Rights Commission, as part of its statutory role for monitoring the DDA, will be taking forward with my Department the next phase of the project later in 2001.

Secondary information