Remploy

Jon Trickett

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to ensure that Remploy’s procurement targets are being met. (202900)

[holding answer 1 May 2008]: It is Remploy’s responsibility to ensure its procurement targets are met.

However, the Department is leading work with Remploy, Trade Unions, Office of Government Commerce and British Association for Supported Employment using Article 19 of the new public sector procurement Directive as a means of securing more public sector contracts for Supported Businesses including Remploy through the Public Procurement Regulations.

The Department has established an Implementation Monitoring Group which includes representatives from Remploy, Trade Unions and the Department. The group tracks progress against the modernisation plan, including procurement.

Officials also chair a quarterly review meeting with the Remploy executive team to discuss performance against targets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what cost savings were made by Remploy management in each of the last five years. (202901)

[holding answer 1 May 2008]: The changes in the total costs of Remploy businesses and central costs (outturn prices) since April 2003 are in the table.

*£ million*
	Total costs	Cumulative change since 2003 +/-	Yearly changes in costs +/-
2002-03	158.8	—	—
2003-04	148.1	-10.7	-10.7
2004-05	157.2	-1.6	+9.1
2005-06	155.0	-3.8	-2.2
2006-07	154.8	-4.0	-0.2
2007-08	150.1	-8.7	-4.7
Source: Remploy Management Information

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on (a) redundancy payments and (b) other costs associated with redundancy in respect of each closed Remploy factory. (202902)

[holding answer 1 May 2008]: Information about the other costs associated with redundancy in respect of each closed Remploy factory is not available.

The available information about redundancy payments is in the following table.

*Total redundancy payments to end April 2008*
	£
Aintree	1,287,005
Barnsley	608,956
Bradford	328,944
Brixton	844,129
Brynamman	235,455
CCU	950,932
Chandlers Ford	98,925
Halifax	313,447
Hartlepool	1,174,275
Hillington	696,164
Hull	715,355
Jarrow	491,750
Leatherhead	287,311
Lydney	350,613
Mansfield	1,242,239
Medway	771,775
Newcastle-under-Lyme	461,373
Pinxton	1,603,036
Plymouth	525,807
Redruth	366,447
Southend	330,523
St. Helens	4,297,883
Stockport	799,235
Stockton	804,650
Treforest	1,443,502
Wisbech	219,298
Woolwich	724,270
York	704,007
Ystradgynlais	199,263
Source: Remploy management information.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff have successfully (a) transferred from one Remploy factory to another and (b) unsuccessfully applied for transfer following closure of a Remploy factory. (202903)

[holding answer 1 May 2008]: The number of disabled people who have transferred from one Remploy factory to another is 185.

All disabled people eligible to apply for transfer (that is in the 11 Remploy merging sites) were given the opportunity to do so.

Volume 475: debated on Wednesday 14 May 2008