More than 1,700 jobs could go at Remploy
Jackie Long
Social Affairs Editor and Presenter
The company is proposing to close 36 of its 54 factories with potential compulsory redundancies of almost three quarters of its workforce of 2,300 disabled workers.
The decision came as the government said it would accept the findings of the Sayce Review which looked at ways “to support disabled people to work in any role in any sectors”.
In a written statement to MPs, Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller said the Remploy board was proposing to close the sites by the end of the year because they were unlikely to achieve independent financial viability.
Through its Enterprise Businesses, Remploy, which is owned by the government, is one of the biggest employers of disabled people in the UK with over 2,300 employees.
It is proposed that government funding for Remploy will come to an end as soon as possible. Remploy statement
Among those factories earmarked for closure are plants in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Aberdeen, Leicester, Southampton, Manchester and Bristol.
Ms Miller said the £320m budget for disability employment has been protected, adding that the money will be spent more effectively.
Sayce Review
On its website, Remploy explained what had led the proposal to close most of its factories. It said: “The Remploy board has proposed a series of significant changes to its operations as a result of the government decision to reduce current funding for Remploy – this was announced to Parliament as part of a package of reforms to maximise the number of disabled people supported into work.
“The government has accepted the recommendation in the Sayce Review which reported in June 2011 that, in future, government funding should be used to maximise the support for disabled people rather than subsidise specific organisations like Remploy.
“It is proposed that government funding for Remploy will come to an end as soon as possible, so that funding can instead be used to support more disabled people into mainstream employment.”
The campaign organisation Disability Rights UK said it welcomed the government’s decision to accept the findings of the Sayce Review (the author of the report, Liz Sayce, is Disability Rights UK’s chief executive), but said that Remploy’s workers needed support “to secure their financial security and move into open employment or social enterprise”.
Barbaric
But the decision was met with anger by Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey. He said: “This is a barbaric decision. The government has sunk to a new low by sacking over 1,000 disabled workers.
“To choose to cut these jobs only a few days after the government passed the welfare bill is proof it has no intention of helping the most vulnerable in society; instead the coalition is only making life worse.
“In the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, these workers’ prospects of finding work are almost zero. Unite is determined to fight this decision.”
Labour MPs were furious that the news was not delivered in person to the commons. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said it was “disappointing” that the DWP announced the closures in a written statement rushed out after Prime Minister’s Questions, denying MPs the chance to quiz David Cameron on the “callous decision”.
Access to Work
The Employers’ Forum on Disability, which represents more than 300 employers, welcomed the announcement that many of the recommendations in the Sayce Review are to be taken forward by the government. Chief executive Susan Scott-Parker said: “The government’s implementation of the Sayce Review recommendations is good news for everyone.
“The UK already benefits from nearly 3.5 million disabled people already in employment. Today’s announcement is a much-needed step towards eliminating the barriers to employment faced by the many people with disabilities who want to work but are denied the chance to compete.
“The improvements to the government’s Access to Work scheme signalled today will allow enhanced labour force mobility for the 3.5 million disabled people already in work, the two per cent of the UK working age population that becomes disabled each year and the tens of thousands of active disabled jobseekers.
“Any improvements to Access to Work are to be welcomed – the scheme is one of the government’s best-kept secrets, generating £1.44 return for every £1 spent by the exchequer.”
In a Commons debate in June 2011, Conservative MP Philip Davies suggested disabled people should work for less than the minimum wage so that they can compete for jobs. But the government distanced itself from his remarks, saying they did not reflect government policy.