Wednesday, April 7, 1976
—
25
On the employment of the disabled, Mr. Li said he was confident that
this year's better situation was not only a consequence of the improving
economy, but also a recognition by employers that the disabled could be a
viable and hard-working segment of our workforce.
"In the first three months of 1976, 133 disabled were successfully
placed in employment including an all-time record of 55 placed in March this
year," he said, This compared with 200 for the whole of 1975 and 160 for
1974.
He stressed that it would continue to be the government's policy to
employ disabled persons in appropriate jobs wherever possible.
Turning to social welfare subventions, Mr. Li assured the Unofficials
that "funds will be forthcoming for services which are accepted by Government
as meeting a recognised and defined social need, provided that public funds
are used effectively and efficiently",
However he agreed with the Financial Secretary that the increase in
social welfare subventions in recent years had been dramatic and that the
voluntary social welfare sector could not go on expanding at this rate "ad
infinitum".
He said that the social welfare subvention one-line-vote, as allocated
on the advice of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee, must be subject to
the same constraints in growth as other heads of expenditure.
Turning to the future development of social welfare services, Mr. Li
said there was a need for continuous reviews of basic assumptions in the
light of events.
"What seems to be necessary in the next review should be a study in
greater depth not only into projects which have already been included within
the planning process but also into the underlying policy on which the future
development of social welfare services will take place," he said.
/He agreed