§ Mr. Sharpasked the Minister of Labour how many Remploy factories are now in operation; how many places these provide for persons requiring such employment; and how many of these are now filled.
§ Mr. Isaacs:There are 68 Remploy factories in operation providing approximately 6,250 places. Many of the factories are still in the early stages of their development, and there are at present 3,576 severely disabled workers employed.
§ Mr. Sharpasked the Minister of Labour what were the approximate total receipts from the sale of the productions of Remploy factories during 1948 and that part of 1949 for which such information is available; what approximate amount this represented per worker per week employed; and what main difficulties still exist in effecting sales.
§ Mr. Isaacs:Receipts from the sale of the productions of Remploy factories during 1948 were £114,385 and for the first 10 months of 1949 were £241,855. Based on the average number of workers (including a large proportion undergoing training) these receipts represented £1 19s. 4d. in 1948 and £2 2s. 3d. in 1949 per worker per week. In addition to the difficulties common to all new commercial undertakings in course of building up a sales organisation and of establishing its products in the market, 182W Remploy Limited is faced with such special problems as the training of persons handicapped by severe disability and their adaptation to factory conditions of which they may have little or no experience; the selection of products for manufacture which fall within the capacity of the severely disabled and at the same time are likely to be marketable; the creation of conditions of employment suitable to the severely disabled; and the impracticability of applying normal methods for regulating the labour force to trading results.