Training centres to be closed

TWO Plymouth City Council backed training schemes for people with learning disabilities will close next year due to cost-cutting – and because the Government wants users to find paid work.

A dozen jobs are under threat following the announcement the Devonport Park Training Centre and Union Street's Hands On Pottery will shut in January and March respectively. It also means 68 adults will be assessed to see if they can be employed elsewhere.

Families and campaigners have reacted angrily, claiming many of the people who use the services, which teach gardening and pottery, will not be able to find an outside job. They said it will also remove a respite 'lifeline' for those people's carers.

But the city council stressed it is only following the Government's Valuing People Now policy, which 'highlights getting people into work as a number one priority'.

Its services include an 'employment bureau' where the learning disabled will be assessed and, if they find a job, supported.

Kay O'Shaughnessy, chair of the Plymouth branch of Carers UK, queried where the users would find work and said it would put 'a huge strain on carers'. She added: "People have relied on this, it's a lifesaver for families."

Bruce Abbott, a campaigner with the Disability Action Network (DAN), called the closures 'very sad' and said he would raise the issue with the city's Welfare Rights Forum. He fears learning disabled workers could be harassed in mainstream jobs.

He said: "Whenever there are financial difficulties it's always the front-line service delivery that is impacted. Very seldom is there a reduction in management."

Chris Coombe, a carer for one of the Hands On users, said: "It's a nail in the coffin for people – where are they going to go?"

Dawn Clarke, of Plymouth's Disability Information and Advice Centre, said she was 'very shocked and surprised' to learn of the closures. A worker at the Hands On site said morale among colleagues was 'not very good'.

The training centres are run by Pluss, a company providing jobs and training for disabled people, but paid for by the council.

It said it is hoping to 'redeploy staff wherever possible'. Information sessions for families have been arranged for next month.

Pluss is responsible for other schemes, including Dragon Products and WorkAble in Plymouth.

A letter has been sent by the firm to parents and carers of people using the Devonport and Union Street centres. It revealed the council had developed 'a new service specification with a strong focus on achievement of paid work for individuals'.

It added: "Both PCC and Pluss have challenging budgetary constraints, particularly in the current economic environment."

Service users will be assessed by the council and could find themselves shifted into one of Pluss' other training schemes or asked to look for work.

The loss of Hands On and the Devonport Park project are the latest blow for Plymouth's disabled community.

Last year, Remploy shut its factory at Prince Rock throwing 35 disabled workers out of a job.

And the South Devon and Cornwall Institution for the Blind blamed a decline in orders from the NHS for the closure of its Stonehouse workshop days before Christmas.

A Pluss spokeswoman said: "People with learning disabilities should no longer be considered as unable to work."