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keithisco

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So... the idiotic Government, with it 's ten layers of bureaucracy decide to end what has become a dignifying and valuable contribution to UK society. They are so incompetent (this government), give me or a thousand other entrepreneurs the task of running Remploy..... give it to Richard Branson!! The people that need to lose their jobs are the bureaucrats, will they? NO. they need only to get off of their , index linked pension backsides and market it properly. It makes me sick!!! :angry:

Courtesy BBC

Up to 2,000 jobs could still be at risk at Remploy - the government-owned manufacturing firm for disabled workers - the BBC has learned.

After unsuccessful negotiations with unions, the company is planning to go ahead with closing 28 factories.

Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain is expected to make a decision about its future within a few weeks.

Ministers say Remploy is costing too much. Unions argue the government is not doing enough to bring in business.

Earlier this year, it was announced that 43 Remploy factories were to close, which brought threats of strikes from the unions.

Rescue package

The Department for Work and Pensions, which oversees the business, ordered a review and Mr Hain announced a £555m rescue package in September.

He added that there would be no compulsory redundancies.

However, the government says each Remploy job involves a £20,000-a-year subsidy from the taxpayer, which they believe is unsustainable.

The company, which would not comment, is planning to deliver a revised business plan to Mr Hain on Monday.

It argues that its efforts should be focused on getting disabled people into open employment rather than running sheltered workshops.

But the GMB, Unite and Community unions believe Remploy's management has failed to attract enough business to keep the factories working at full capacity, and they are critical of the amounts of money spent on managing the business.

They will publish an alternative business plan on Monday, and hold a rally outside Parliament.

The unions are also thought likely to ballot for strike action.

Remploy has more than 6,000 disabled employees in 83 factories around the UK, producing items such as school furniture, protection suits for the police and electronics.

It was set up in 1944 to employ disabled Second World War veterans, with the first factory opening in 1946.

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We're giving hundreds of millions to Pakistan (to mention just one country in the headlines recently), and yet we cant' afford to fund a scheme that gives meaning and hope to the lives of thousands of disabled people ?

If those factories close, then what will happen to the workers ? Will they become a burden on the state ? Surely this would cause MORE expense than a modest subsidy to allow those factories to continue.

I'm not usualy in favour of state intervention in the marketplace, but this situation is different.

Bah. The government is broken. Can we have a new one please ? Here is my receipt.

Meow Purr. :(

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"I'm sorry, Mr Cat, but you appear to have changed leadership recently. We can't possibly take the government back once it's been used."

* Hands back receipt *

Agreed. State intervention, in some cases, is more than justified. Gah.

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This is disgusting..! <_<

Like the cat said , the amount of cash we send(/WASTE) to other countries...230 million to Pakistan... the corrupt EU (mafia)... and flippin Africa.

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I Dunno what to say about this Government except they are all a shower of sh**, people need to send letters to their MP's. Every week im firing letters off to my MP's Over Military Spending, 2.1% of the GDP. Government waste last year £101.Bn some questions need asking.

Edited by stevewinn
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if a government can't care for it's own , it has no business caring for those outside the system.

Be it work for the disabled ( to which 56.6 % are only currently employed * here in the states - hard to prove discrimination) or health insurance . Our government is supposed to be a servant of the people , elected as such.

If you refuse to care for your own who can't or are struggling , it's a pathetic statement of morals and ethics .

* 2002 - http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/ec.../labor2002.html

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A closed border is what we need. No real immigration. No handouts to other countries. Take care of our own then.

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my eyes kept seeing govt. owned, union, subsidy, calls for more govt. intervention/control... was depressing

and then I saw 6,000 entrepreneurs! Sparkling Gems of Potential! being kept dependant, unsure, half-men

frustrating

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Each job needs a 20,000 quid subsidy ? For factory workers ? WTF ? Something smells very fishy, I doubt many in the disabled workforce were on that.

Ahhh,from the OP,......... "But the GMB, Unite and Community unions believe Remploy's management has failed to attract enough business to keep the factories working at full capacity, and they are critical of the amounts of money spent on managing the business". There we go, fat cats been filling there pockets with government cash. I would love to see the company accounts, especially the directors renumerations bit.

Edit: Accounts are available:

<a href="http://www.remploy.co.uk/downloads/account...counts_2006.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.remploy.co.uk/downloads/account...counts_2006.pdf</a>

Directors not too bad actually, probably because they are publically published it is probably the top management levels which are not published causing the problems. Without the government grant the business is a complete joke, take that grant away and it isn't a business at all. Better just to give the disabled people the 20,000 quid and cut out the expensive middlemen.

Actually without the government grant they would have made a 145 million loss on tunover of 165 million.

Edited by Moon Monkey
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In trying to makes sense of the last available accounts I can see some interesting figures:

Average employees salary = 15,915 pounds p.a.

average Staff costs: = 31,155 pounds p.a.

Materials cost = 90million pounds (2006).

Just wondering if they operating in efficient markets (presumably because most of their income is derived from Public Sector Contracts, then they are.) This pre-disposes me to thnkt that there is a lot of room for real improvement.

The directors know that the Government is not going to withdraw the contracts, for political reasons, and that their subsdy is likewise guaranteed...but this also leads to complacency in Sales and Marketing (witnessed by the very low other business contributions to income) knowing that there is guaranteed level of income that wont disappear.

Whilst they are in the process of changing their business model (focussing more as a specialist Employment Agency to other businesses), they are clearly losing sight of their Core Business. which is manufacturing. They site the usual argument of cheaper labour markets overseas (not entirely without foundation), which leads to a "mindset" of helplessness and resignation to "no improvement".

Many of the Directors also hold Directorships with other companies, but I would suggest that in the unique setting of Remploy that this should not be the case. All Executive Directors (and non-executive stakeholders) should be full - time, and fully focused on improving the company.

Why were Directors bonus' paid last year when clearly they have not performed, who sets the performance standards? Actually, a committee of Directors sets the criteria for paying bonus'. I dont like that.

I see no targets for any Director in terms of Improving Sales.

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"failure to attract business" overtaxation/overregulation, govt's the cause of the problem they're being asked to fix, a loop what I see

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  • 5 years later...
 

You want to hear it straight from the horse's mouth?

I was one of those Remployites.

Back at the time of the original cuts we just scraped through.

So in 2011 I was getting a creepy sense of deja vu when I knew it was going to happen again.

I honestly thought due to our ongoing contracts with Oldham council we would stay open.

But this insipid government wouldn't even listen to offers to buying our own factory out.

They care more about contingency plans for zombie invasions than disabled people.

All because they thought we could hack it in mainstream employment.

And the GMB wern't much cop because all they cared about was their contributions to their fund.

Sorry about getting on my soapbox.

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This is disgusting..! disgust.gif

Like the cat said , the amount of cash we send(/WASTE) to other countries...230 million to Pakistan... the corrupt EU (mafia)... and flippin Africa.

Australia pulled money from foreign aid recently - to spend it on supporting immigrants etc here and has been roundly lambasted for the move because it's "promoting suffering" and "abandoning innocents".

It's a lose-lose scenario frankly.

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Australia pulled money from foreign aid recently - to spend it on supporting immigrants etc here and has been roundly lambasted for the move because it's "promoting suffering" and "abandoning innocents".

It's a lose-lose scenario frankly.

What are the immigrants guilty of? Escaping poverty and suffering?

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nothing, but funding wise they get the short end of the stick. Weup the funding for thei care and societial integration but do so by cutting foreign aid.

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nothing, but funding wise they get the short end of the stick. Weup the funding for thei care and societial integration but do so by cutting foreign aid.

This is just a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other...The OP (and recent followup) is a bit different imo

Edited by BlackRedLittleDevil
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