Remploy Disabled Jobs Dissapointment

Only a little over half of disabled ex-Remploy employees in Wales are now in work, according to figures obtained by Plaid Cymru.

The UK Department of Work and Pensions said that the nine Welsh factories which shut between 2010 and 2013 employed 421 people at the time of closure. But the DWP said that just 226 were now recorded as being in work, a Freedom of Information request reveals.

The factories which closed under the Tory-Liberal Democrat Coalition were in Aberdare, Abertillery, Bridgend, Croespenmaen, near Blackwood, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath, Porth, Swansea and Wrexham.

In addition, three factories at Brynaman, Treforest and Ystradgynlais were closed under the last Labour Government. A total of 144 jobs were lost, although the DWP said it did not have data on how many of those employees had found work.

Remploy factories made items ranging from furniture and wheelchairs to the refurbishment of computers.

Lindsay Whittle, Plaid Cymru’s Equality Spokesperson and South Wales East AM, said: “These closures were an attack on disabled people and despite all the promises made by the UK Government almost a half of those what were employed at Remploy factories are no longer working.

 “There is always a cost to providing sheltered employment and sadly many disabled people have paid the price for cost cutting by the UK Government. The closure programme that began under the last Labour Government has left many disabled people out of work and considerably worse off as a result. The Treasury is also unlikely to have saved money because they would have to pay benefits.”