Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood has been frustrated by Welsh Government ministers in her attempts to safeguard the future for Remploy workers.
The AM for South Wales Central has urged the First Minister to press for the devolution of the budget for Remploy from Westminster in order to stave off the looming prospect of factory closures.
Despite being asked to enter into immediate discussions with the UK Government to work towards this, little, if anything, appears to have been done.
Ms Wood said: “The jobs and livelihoods of many workers in the valleys are at stake here yet the Welsh Government has shown little evidence of grasping just how serious and urgent the situation is.
“I asked for the First Minister to explore the possibility of the Remploy budget being devolved during plenary last week and he agreed to discuss the issue with the Education Minister Leighton Andrews, who I have already written to on this issue.
“In the intervening seven days, nothing appears to have been done by the First Minister. I followed up the issue later on in plenary with Finance Minister Jane Hutt. Again, I received an unsatisfactory answer.
“This laissez-faire attitude is exasperating I cannot imagine how the Remploy workers and their families feel in light of their uncertain future.
“It will be too late when the factories have closed which is a real possibility if the Westminster Coalition Government gets its way. It is time that the minority Labour Government in Wales made good on its electoral promise of standing up for Wales.”
The Plaid Cymru spokesperson for Regeneration added: “There is no question that the market has failed to provide jobs in some areas since the end of heavy industry in the South Wales valleys so there is very little chance that the private sector will step in to fill the gap left by the public sector if the Remploy factory closures go ahead.
“Supported employment, which is absolutely essential for the livelihoods and well-being of some people in our communities, needs to be maintained throughout the whole of Wales and devolution of the Remploy budget would be a means of ensuring that.”
