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Face the Facts: Remploy Factories - No Place to Shelter

Remploy Factories - No Place to Shelter

15/05/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Face the Facts, Remploy Factories - No Place to Shelter

Remploy closure and sale programme leaves around 2000 disabled staff out of work.

John Waite investigates the government's closure or sell-off of all 54 Remploy factories, which provided 'sheltered' employment for disabled people.

John Waite investigates the closure of the Remploy factories, which provided 'sheltered' employment for workers with disabilities. Fewer than a third of those who lost their jobs have found alternative employment. Furthermore we hear concerns about the tendering process for one Remploy division. There are concerns that the chosen company was always destined to win the bid and one MP has accused the firm of "asset-stripping." We hear from Disabled People's Minister Esther McVey who denies any wrongdoing in the factory sell-off process and defends the Remploy closure programme. She says an independent assessment revealed most of the remaining 54 factories were commercially unviable and that disabled people are best employed in "mainstream" workplaces alongside non-disabled workers.

Producer: Mark Ansell
Editor: Andrew Smith.

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