Simon Danczuk - Letter from Parliament

Simon Danczuk with Anna Wharfe, Regional Business Development Manager at Remploy

This week I visited the Rochdale branch of Remploy to learn more about the fantastic work they do in the community.

After leaving government ownership earlier this year, the new look Remploy is now 30% owned by its employees. Instead of directly employing clients in its own factories, the group now campaigns to help disabled job seekers into the mainstream workforce, I think this is a positive step.

It’s great that organisations like Remploy have a presence here in Rochdale, it is a group which is entirely focused on helping people.

In total, 44,359 Rochdale residents have some form of disability or long term health problem. That represents 21% of the borough’s population, significantly higher than the UK average.

Despite the fact that one in five working age people are disabled, many employers are reluctant to take them on. As a result, employment levels among the disabled population of working age are significantly lower than among non-disabled people.

Part of Remploy’s job is to shatter some of the myths and misconceptions that might prevent business owners from hiring a disabled candidate.

The facts speak for themselves, statistics show that disabled staff stay in their jobs longer, take fewer sick days and increase brand awareness and loyalty.

I would urge employers in Rochdale to help break this trend and welcome disabled people into fulfilling, long-term work.