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Remploy

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her contribution. I agree and acknowledge, as I think we all do, that this has been an unsettling period for Remploy employees. That is why we have had to reach conclusions and make them clear, as my right honourable friend the Secretary of State did in his Statement today. The promise of no compulsory redundancies for disabled people has been, and I believe will be, met; that is clearly on the record. As I mentioned a moment ago, a range of components of the offer is available to disabled workers. There are, for example, jobs in mainstream employment, additional training, jobs created specifically as I have outlined, and placements in charities or similar organisations. There is a whole raft of support and the opportunity for them to retain their Remploy terms and conditions, including access to the pension scheme. I hope that that will in some measure ameliorate people’s concern. When the plan was drawn up and identified the factories that should be closed, account was taken not only of factories with low volumes and low margins but of the prospects for being able to help people in those areas into other employment opportunities. That analysis on behalf of the workforce was a component of the decision-making process.