Give Remploy staff a chance (From South Wales Argus)

Give Remploy staff a chance

12:09pm Tuesday 17th July 2012 in Letters

I WAS hugely disappointed with the Westminster coalition government’s decision to confirm the closure of five Remploy factories inWales, including those at Abertillery, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil.

We know from the last closure programme under the former Labour government in Westminster how difficult it will be for those workers to find a new job.

We should perhaps have expected no more from the Tories, but the Labour government in Cardiff could have done more.

There was an early opportunity for them to press for the devolution of the Remploy budget toWales last year but they failed to act quickly enough. They waited until March when the proposed closures were first announced to make such a request.

Plaid leader LeanneWood has written to the Westminster minister for disabled people, Maria Miller, urging her to give Remploy factories under threat of closure the chance to build up their order books and secure their futures while their funding was guaranteed until the end of the financial year.

I hope this will happen but I fear the coalition government is prepared to throw these loyal employees out of work with little prospect of them finding new employment.

Lindsay Whittle, Plaid Cymru AM, South Wales East