Remploy

Baroness Turner of Camden Excerpts

Wednesday 5th October 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Turner of Camden]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they propose to take regarding the future of the Remploy factories.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud)]

My Lords, no decision has been made on the future strategy for Remploy. The Government are currently consulting on the recommendations of the Sayce report. This consultation closes on 17 October 2011.

[Baroness Turner of Camden]

I thank the Minister for that response, but is he aware that hundreds of disabled people who rely on Remploy to provide them with employment are very worried about the continuation of their employment prospects? Remploy has a reputation for, and experience of, providing supportive work for people who want to work but who otherwise have difficulty in doing so. Would the Government please give support to this worthwhile enterprise?

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, we are aiming to support disabled people in employment, and we have to do that in the most cost-effective way that we can find. There is a remarkable difference emerging between the support to get disabled people into mainstream employment, which, when Remploy Employment Services does it, costs £3,600 a time on a one-off basis—the company is now getting 20,000 people in a year—and the cost of more than £25,000, year on year on year, to keep them employed in the factory services.