The government is to review the work of disability employment body Remploy, Anne McGuire, minister for disabled people, has announced.
The review will look at how Remploy operates and suggest ways to both improve the opportunities for the 9,000 disabled people it currently supports and to provide better value for money.
It follows the publication of a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) last autumn which recognised that some of Remploy’s factory businesses were not financially sustainable.
“Since its creation in 1945, Remploy has made a major contribution to improving employment opportunities for disabled people,” said McGuire. “But 60 years on, it needs to change.
“As we break down the barriers to equal employment opportunities for disabled people, we need to give people the chance to be integrated into mainstream workplaces wherever possible.”
The Department for Work and Pensions has increased funding for Remploy on an annual basis, but McGuire said that situation was “just not sustainable”.
“It makes no sense for costs to go on spiralling without producing the best results for disabled people,” she said.
