Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of what the £8 million package of support for former Remploy factory workers announced in 2012 has achieved in employment outcomes for those former workers directly affected.

For all disabled former Remploy workers made redundant as a result of factory closures, the Government put in place the £8 million guaranteed People Help and Support Package (PHSP). The support package provides help to each affected disabled former employee for up to 18 months from the date they left Remploy.

The PHSP provides help for each affected disabled individual to adjust to life outside of Government funded supported employment and to find alternative mainstream employment. The support provided through PHSP includes access to a Personal Case Worker and a personal budget.

The support does not stop once the 18 months period is complete and former Remploy employees who still need help will continue to receive the specialist employment support available to all disabled people looking for a job. In most cases this will include continuation of support from the same adviser.

The Department has asked all disabled former employees made redundant from Remploy to give permission to be tracked, and the Department can only monitor the progress and outcomes of those individuals that have given permission.

Latest figures show that 1,507 disabled former Remploy workers are choosing to work with our personal case workers to find another job and 774 are currently in work. 389 former Remploy disabled employees are in receipt of employment support allowance, 345 are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance, 382 confirmed their intention to retire and 774 are currently in work.

Our records of former Remploy disabled employees currently in work only show individuals who are in employment of 16 hours or more and do not indicate the type of employment, or whether it is permanent, fixed term, temporary or voluntary. The Department does not keep a record of impairment type.