Fife politicians have urged the UK Government to ensure jobs at Fife’s two Remploy factories are not outsourced overseas.
MPs Gordon Brown, Thomas Docherty and Lindsay Roy spoke out ahead of the Remploy board meeting on Wednesday, when bids for the factories at Leven and Cowdenbeath will be considered.
They have written to Remploy chairman Ian Russell and to work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith demanding that manufacturing stays in Fife.
The two factories employ a total of 65 disabled workers and produce 30,000 specialised marine lifejackets per year.
The MPs said in a joint statement: “We are informed that the meeting of the Remploy board on June 26 will resolve who is to take over the factories now that they are to be sold off by the Government.
“We know that the Remploy factories have full order books, the capacity to expand and a great product with a worldwide market and rising demand. We hope that the board members are aware of the Scottish affairs select committee’s concern over the criteria used for the decision.
“We want to emphasise that the issue that should be uppermost is that we retain manufacturing in the two plants in Fife, and that the criteria used for the decision is the long-term sustainability of the plants at Leven and Cowdenbeath.
“The danger we see is that without guarantees of a commitment to Fife, the product may be transferred for production elsewhere, possibly in Asia, using the design and expertise that has amassed in Leven and Cowdenbeath, but leaving these Fife plants without jobs.
“So we’re asking that in making a decision, the high cost to the local area in terms of unemployment and loss of revenue that will result if the work is transferred out of Fife is taken into account.”