A delegation from Dundee City Council hope a meeting with Scottish Enterprise Minister Fergus Ewing today can help save the city’s Remploy factory.
Lord Provost Bob Duncan, administration leader Ken Guild and director of corporate services Marjory Stewart are travelling to Edinburgh to find out what support might be available from the Scottish Government.
The conference at Holyrood, involving local authorities and the Scottish Government, was described by Fife’s three Labour MPs as a step forward in helping the two plants in their region.
Gordon Brown, Lindsay Roy and Thomas Docherty have vowed to save the Cowdenbeath and Leven factories, which are staffed by disabled people.
They said a tripartite deal bringing together Fife Council and the Scottish and UK Governments should form the basis of a rescue package.
Mr Duncan hopes a way forward can be found for the Remploy in Dunsinane Industrial Estate, Dundee, where 43 people are employed. The delegation will also be meeting Minister for Disabled People Esther McVey in Dundee next week.
“We hope to get details from her on how the Remploy factory in Dundee has been doing,” he said. “We are told the Remploy group has made a loss but we don’t know how the details of the losses.
“Is Dundee affected in a similar way to the rest of them or has Dundee done better than some of them? If the Dundee Remploy factory has fared better than some of the factories, can it be run as a going concern and can this avenue be explored?
“We really need detailed figures about how the Remploy factory in Dundee and I hope this information can be provided when we meet Ms McVey next week.”
Scottish Enterprise Minister Fergus Ewing said he hoped to meet Work and Pensions Minister Iain Duncan Smith to discuss the Remploy Marine sites next month. He said officials will consider how the development of business plans for the factories can be given assistance.