Specialist Disability Employment

Debate between Lord Walney and Maria Miller

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

I say to both the hon. Gentleman and the Remploy workers in his constituency that we are taking forward the Sayce recommendations. She said clearly that the factories should be set free of Government control. That is the process that we are working on at the moment. I hope that the hon. Gentleman would want to ensure that the 17,500 disabled people in his constituency get more help and support. Let me also remind him that Remploy employment services has done an outstanding job in his constituency, helping more than 1,300 disabled people into mainstream jobs—just the sort of jobs that disabled people would like more of, as they are telling us clearly.

[John Woodcock (Barrow and Furness) (Lab/Co-op)]

We are obviously hoping to secure a successful bid in Barrow. However, further to the questions from my hon. Friends, and after the alarmingly pejorative tone in which the Minister has described workers being “shut away” by Remploy, will she be requiring any successful bids to target future opportunities specifically at disabled people?

[Maria Miller]

The hon. Gentleman has misread my tone. I can absolutely tell him that I am working very much with disabled people on the programme that we are putting forward today. It is led by disabled people, and the plan that we are following is very much led by the recommendations in the Sayce report. It is good news that we are able to do further work on the bid for the hon. Gentleman’s factory, and I hope that he will perhaps be able to support the factory in that. However, the broader reform that we are talking about will do much more to help the 12,000 disabled people in his constituency.