George Mudie
Main Page: George Mudie (Labour - Leeds East)Department Debates - View all George Mudie's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(12Â years ago)
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Esther McVey
The hon. Gentleman makes a fine point: when the factories were closed in 2008, no plans, process, tracking or special consideration were given to the workers. That is now changing. We are obviously starting from a stop-start position, because we did not have this in place previously. As each day goes by, the process becomes better and more people are in work.
Mr George Mudie (Leeds East) (Lab)
The Minister has admitted that 812 of the 960 workers are still waiting for work in the first phase. In view of the Department’s failure to get the most vulnerable people into work, should not the Minister, if she has any heart or sensitivity, postpone any future closures until the figure falls from 812 to nothing?
Esther McVey
I take on board what the hon. Gentleman says. Those are the numbers. I also announced today, because we are working on a daily basis, that five major businesses have come on board to support ex-Remploy staff. More people are getting jobs every day, and we will help them as best we can.