(13 years, 8 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Turner of Camden
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the decision of Remploy Ltd, the largest specialist employer of disabled people in the United Kingdom, to make redundancies among the workforce.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud)
My Lords, voluntary redundancies are a matter for Remploy management and employees. Remploy will continue to examine how best to deliver its businesses within the existing five-year modernisation plan funding and will continue to fulfil its mission of transforming lives by providing sustainable employment opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people.
Baroness Turner of Camden
I thank the Minister for that response. However, is he aware that I have received information from the unions that Remploy has been told by the Government to make 1,500 people redundant? They are very concerned about this because they fear that it may mean the closure of certain locations. As I said in my Question, Remploy is the largest specialist employer of disabled people in the country, working at 54 different locations. Surely it is in the interests of everyone, including the Government, to ensure that this facility is maintained because, in the light of the Government’s own policy, it is very important that disabled people should be able to work if they want to do so.
Lord Freud
My Lords, I can categorically reassure the noble Baroness that there is no such plan as has been suggested by the unions; we are looking at a voluntary redundancy plan. The next stage of what happens to Remploy will depend on the review that Liz Sayce is conducting into disability employment programmes, which is due to report in the summer.
Lord Low of Dalston
My Lords, I recognise that only voluntary redundancies are being sought at this stage, but does the Minister not agree that Remploy’s failure to meet its financial targets is, at least in part, attributable to the Government’s failure to meet their commitment to put work into the factories through procurement and otherwise? Can he assure the House that the Government will redouble their efforts to fulfil their side of the bargain contained in the five-year funding agreement of 2007?
Lord Freud
My Lords, the Remploy business plan was designed by Remploy management. It has failed to achieve its targets because, in retrospect, it was wildly overambitious to expect that public procurement could go up by 130 per cent. The cost of subsidising a disabled person in a Remploy job has now reached £23,000 a year, compared with the success of Remploy employment services in putting a person into an independent job for a one-off cost of £3,400.
Lord Addington
My Lords, will my noble friend expand on the work of Remploy employment services? Getting people with disabilities into jobs in the mainstream is surely the way forward. What guarantee is there of support for such schemes, which are in line with what most of us have been working towards for a long time.
Lord Freud
Yes, my Lords, the success of Remploy’s employment services is little less than extraordinary. It has now put some 24,000 people into jobs. In 2009-10 there were more than 10,000 people. It looks to get about 18,000 people into jobs this year and its target for 2012-13 is 30,000.
Lord McNally
My Lords, the House was calling for the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis.
Baroness Hollis of Heigham
Thank you, my Lords, I am grateful. We all agree, following the noble Lord, Lord Addington, that the best strategy for work for disabled people is to see them coming into mainstream jobs. Anything that can be done in this respect by the current Government, as was done by the previous one, is greatly to be welcomed. Yet, frankly, that strategy only works when there is low unemployment. At the moment, in my county of Norfolk where 32,000 people are chasing 4,000 jobs, I suspect that the opportunities for disabled people will shrink unless Remploy can ensure supportive employment. Could the Minister not at least work with Remploy to ensure that there are continuing opportunities for disabled people until we see the employment market open up again?
Lord Freud
My Lords, my last answer made clear the extraordinary success of Remploy in getting people with disabilities into jobs. That does not seem to have been affected by a very difficult employment market. I remind the House of the relative costs: the factory business of Remploy takes between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of the total that we as a country spend on disability employment programmes to support some 3,000 people.
Lord Davies of Coity
My Lords, while recognising that the policy of the coalition Government is to have voluntary separation and voluntary redundancy, does the Minister agree with me that even on a voluntary basis the number of job opportunities will be reduced for disabled people in the future?
Lord Freud
My Lords, I hope that I have made absolutely clear the exact opposite. The employment services strategy is working. Numbers are going up. It is looking to help 30,000 people per year by 2012-13 into mainstream jobs. A company such as ASDA has already taken on 1,000 disabled people. With this strategy we are delivering something that disabled lobbies and people want—to be in full, mainstream employment.