Helen speaks up for Remploy
The future of Remploy, the organisation that employs disabled workers, including at a factory in Spennymoor, has been raised by Helen during a Commons debate on the reports of the Public Accounts Committee.
Jobs at the Remploy factories are currently under threat as the future of Remploy is considered by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Last week Helen launched a trade union strategy document on the factories’ future, compiled by the accountants Grant Thornton. The proposals would enable most of the factories to stay open and to remain within the financial envelope that Ministers have set.
In the House of Commons, Helen said “The original NAO report compared the broad range of schemes run by the DWP with the Remploy factory network. The Remploy factories fared extremely badly in the comparison. I was interested in that as I have a Remploy factory in Spennymoor in my constituency. I have talked to the people who work there, and I know that they value the factory very much.
“At first blush, the Remploy factories seem to be 10 times more expensive than the other schemes, but two things became clear when we looked into the matter in more detail. First, we discovered that we were not comparing like with like. The Remploy factories get a full subsidy so that they can offer permanent jobs, whereas the other schemes offer small interventions with the aim of trying to help someone to find a job. Although it is possible that the job might be permanent, it is far more likely to be the sort of short-term employment that people with disabilities do not value nearly so much.
“Secondly, we were able to get to the bottom of the management costs problem that had aroused much conflict. The trade unions believed that the main problem was that management was wildly inflated, and that no other changes would be needed if that problem could be cracked. In contrast, management adopted a very defensive position. Our report was able to uncover some of the relevant facts.”
You can read the full speech here.
Filed under: Uncategorized on April 24th, 2007
