SET and the Handicapped

SET and the handicapped In your Autumn 1966 issue, you published a letter from Dr. Bailey, of Tone Vale Hospital, Somerset, on the adverse effect of the selective employment tax on the employment of disabled workers. This matter has been discussed by the Social Services Committee of the National Association for Mental Health, and various efforts were made to discover, from different areas, whether SET was having an adverse effect on the employment of the mentally handicapped who are the especial concern of the National Association for Mental Health. We have been able to find no evidence of this at all? in fact, one hospital workshop reported an increase in the number of contracts for light assembly work. We therefore concluded that the natural anxiety expressed by Dr. Bailey, and shared by a number of others, has so far not been supported by factual evidence. The Committee thought, at this stage that it was unwise to advocate any special consideration for disabled workers, because this could give the impression that disabled workers in jobs which have been carefully selected for them, and for which they may have received special training, cannot compete on equal terms with other workers. National Association for Mental Health.