Problems that can’t be worked out at Remploy

SARAH Freeman’s article (Yorkshire Post, March 20) rightly expresses concerns regarding Remploy but the highlighted phrase about a “top heavy management structure introduced in 2000” says it all. It is a problem which besets too many functions associated with the public sector.

Any changes following the report, which suggests that more should be done to integrate into normal workforces, could be upsetting and affect those who have been helped for so long.

There will be some who will continue to need the special attention which Remploy offers so it should not be totally closed down, but others could be accommodated in the ordinary stream of commerce.

As light industry employers some years ago, we had jobs suitable for those with restricted movements such as being dependent on a wheelchair for mobility, maybe amputees and others alike. We had worktop machines in an open single-floor factory.

We approached the official employment functionaries whose task it was to place such people in work but were not offered even one such disadvantaged person. Yet, they would have been engaged in a normal working environment suitably adapted as necessary, with trained support as needed and paid good commercial wages along with other staff.

No doubt Remploy ended up with some of the people to whom we could have given well-paid, enjoyable, secure and very rewarding work. So for how many years has Remploy being undertaking a task, much of which could have been fulfilled by others in the normal commercial world?

If changes come about, where needed, financial assistance to give training or adapt machinery or workplaces could be provided. However, perhaps the spirit of the King’s Roll needs reviving amongst employers.