A Kent councillor has responded to criticisms of a comment he made about disabled people not 'being worth' minimum wage.

David Scott, who represents St Johns Ward in Tunbridge Wells sparked controversy yesterday when he was recorded saying that mentally disabled people shouldn't be paid the minimum wage.

In response to the criticisms, he has now said that his words have been misunderstood and attention is not being paid to the real problem.

He claims he was trying to discuss how to support people with disabilities in other ways other than giving them money.

His comment came following a statement from Welfare Minister Lord Freud in which Lord Freud suggested that disabled people should be paid less than the minimum wage.

At the Conservative Party Conference, Mr Scott was recorded telling Lord Freud: "I have a number of mentally damaged individuals, who to be quite frank aren't worth the Minimum Wage, but want to work."

"We have been trying to support them in work, but you can’t find people who are willing to pay the Minimum Wage.

"We had a young man who was keen to do gardening; now the only way we managed to get him to work was actually setting up a company for him, because as a director in a company we didn’t have to pay the Minimum Wage, we could actually give him the earnings from that.

"But trying to actually maintain his support and allow him to actually work-which he wanted to do–so to actually stay with benefits, and stay with some way of actually managing to continue on in that way."

Today, Mr Scott has responded to criticisms of his statement.

He told the Kent Messenger: "The issue is how to get all people to support the severely mentally disabled people in our community – employees, customers, companies and everyone else.

"The real issue is getting people to give their time, support and understanding. This is far more important than money.

"The real issue is getting people to give their time, support and understanding. This is far more important than money" - Cllr David Scott

"Many a parent want their growing severely disabled child to be in the community as a valued human being. The reward to those who support will be in many ways.

"I am encouraging all to support the severely mentaly disabled in their community with time and support - not just through charities but in treating people as valued individuals."

Skillnet Group is an organisation supporting people with learning difficulties in Kent.

A spokesperson said: "We pay our own disabled staff at least the living wage. While Lord Freud's remarks were clumsy, we will not join others in rushing to condemn anyone thinking creatively to help people get jobs.

"We need ideas and a debate. However, a tiny wage topped up by benefits is not the answer. It would devalue and exploit disabled people who, like everyone, deserve a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

"Lord Freud's idea would make our desperately unequal society even more unequal. Instead, resources need to go into educating employers on the many benefits of employing disabled people."

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