The Remploy Ploy - part 3

On 7th of march 2012 Maria Miller MP, Disabilities Minister, said that money to support disabled people into employment should follow individuals not insitutions and that Remploy factories should be set free from Government control. She also said that Government funded segregated employment is not consistent with an objective of disability equality.

If segregated employment is not the way then why not close all of the  Remploy factories? Instead the Government is going to work with Remploy's Board to identify which of Remploy's businesses can become free from Government control. Why is the Government then picking winners which will still result in segregated employment? Talking about segretated employment, only 25% of Remploy's management were disabled. Remploy's management consisted of 75% of able-bodied and able-minded people. Where was the segregated employment then in this?

The Government have made an attack on disabilities. They have used very clever wording like 'segregated employment'. The Government has portrayed places like Remploy as being similar to Victorian workhouses. They make segregated employment look like a place where disabled people are imprisoned and are unable to intergrate into society. This is not true. I speak to people who work at Remploy and working there provides them with a livelihood and a safe place to go to. Normal workplaces cannot always provide the right help or service needed to enable disabled people to work. You help people who have special needs by catering to those special needs.