Friday 16th December 2011
The campaign to promote skilled employment for disabled people was highlighted in Westminster this week as part of the bid to save Bolton’s Remploy factory.
Bolton South East MP, Yasmin Qureshi, took part in Thursday’s debate on Remploy and spoke about how the staff at the Manchester Road factory felt about working there.
She told MPs that Remploy workers had enormous pride in the work they were doing:
“When I discussed with them how they felt about going into the open market and working in another environment, their answer was categorically, ‘No. We like working in this particular environment. It’s safe, they understand our needs and it’s more comfortable for us.’”
A review commissioned by the Government – the Sayce report – recommended the withdrawal of £18 million of funding from residential training colleges and £63 million from Remploy factory businesses. Unions claim that this would mean the closure of 54 factories across the UK, including the one in Bolton.
Yasmin Qureshi said:
“Over the years Remploy has played a tremendous role in providing sustainable skilled employment for disabled people.
“The Government needs to hear about the positive, life-changing experiences that people have had but how worried people are about their future job prospects. They need to reconsider what options are available to reform Remploy so that it can continue to support disabled workers.”