IT can be tough being a disabled person in today’s society – and it looks like it’s going to get even tougher.

After news that Kirklees Council is considering cutting services for disabled people such as day care for those deemed to be in ‘substantial’ need, now a factory employing disabled staff looks likely to shed jobs.

Remploy, which has about 35 workers at its base in Waterloo, has announced job cuts nationally. The majority of its staff are disabled workers and there could be as many as 1,500 job losses nationwide.

Working for Remploy is far more than a job to its workforce. It gives them a feeling of belonging, a sense that they are contributing to society and it raises confidence and self-esteem. It is also a vital social outlet too and gives disabled people a positive reason to go out of their homes into the world outside.

It is clearly understandable that the company is suffering in the current economic climate, but has Remploy done enough to protect its workforce?

This issue sparks the need for us all to step back and look at society as a whole – and ask what is it there for. Surely one of its primary functions is to support the most needy and vulnerable.

Sadly, the early messages from the savage budget cuts look like we may be in for the unkindest cuts of all, but they may not necessarily save money.

After all, the alternatives may prove more costly ... if there are any left.