Remploy Workers Denied Chance To Compete Says MP

Remploy factories are being denied the chance to compete by the government Wrexham MP Ian Lucas has told his fellow MPs.

Mr Lucas was taking part in a Westminster Hall debate on the future of Remploy factories, including one in his Wrexham constituency earlier this month.

During the debate, he spoke of how the Wrexham community came together to support the town’s factory when its closure was proposed in 2007.

However, he also warned proposals in the Sayce report on the future of Remploy, which the Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller has said it is minded to accept, will threaten the viability of factories such as Wrexham.

Mr Lucas told MPs that community support, including a contract from Wrexham Council, have helped the factory since 2007 and it was progressing well.

But he added: “The problem with the Sayce report is it proposes a model that is going to take that situation away.”

He said that the report suggested that factories could compete with the private sector, but in a private sector which is currently struggling, Remploy factories were not being given the chance to compete by the government.

Mr Lucas described how he had written to the Minister earlier in the year to ask for information about the Wrexham factory, which she had refused to supply while the government continued to consider its stance.

Leaving factories without such information meant they could not produce business plans, and could not compete, he warned.

He told Ms Miller: “People feel very passionate about these factories, the people who work in them and the communities around them. Will the Minister please ensure that she is not known as the Minister who destroyed Remploy.”