HELEN SPEAKS UP FOR REMPLOY
Helen has voiced her concerns over a Government review of Remploy, the local employer of disabled people.
Helen, who has a Remploy site at Spennymoor in her constituency, said, “Remploy plays an important role in providing work for disabled people so I am concerned by the speculation about closures and job cuts.
“I have had a range of discussions with workers’ representatives and I am not convinced that any cutbacks to the funding for Remploy would be desirable.”
Last week Helen used a hearing of the Commons Public Accounts Committee to question Government officials about Remploy.
She added, “I pointed out to the officials that they were not making fair comparisons between the cost of employing someone at Remploy and the cost of other schemes. Of course employing someone at Remploy for a year will cost more than a simple two-day job introduction scheme, but that does not mean it is worse value for money.
“The officials also admitted that other schemes to help people find jobs work better because of Remploy. So it is important that we do not make crude comparisons.”
Helen is now calling on the Department for Work and Pensions to look again at the management of Remploy, so that no hasty decisions are taken that might damage the organisation and create job losses.
Filed under: Uncategorized on May 15th, 2006
