Review of different approaches to work skills development for disabled young people (14-25) and disabled working adults in the UK and internationally

Institute for Policy Studies in Education (IPSE)London Metropolitan University

Dr Gill O’Toole

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1. IntroductionAn estimated 386 million of the world's working age people have some kind of disability, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). They report that unemployment among disabled people can be as high as 80 per cent in some countries1. In Great Britain according to statistics published by the Office for Disability Issues (ODI), there are 11.5 million people2 with a long-term limiting illness/disability at any one time, with 20 per cent of individuals in families where there is at least one disabled member living in ‘relative income poverty’. Many people go in and out of the experience of disability and most impairments are acquired in adult life: only two per cent of disabled people are disabled from birth3. As such, different skills and employment challenges arise at different life stages.

Although disabled people are now more likely to be employed than they were in 2002, they are still significantly less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people: for example, in 2012, 46.3 per cent of working-age disabled people were in employment compared to 76.4 per cent of working-age non-disabled people.4 A report published by UKCES in 2011 stated that

‘Disabled people suffer massive labour market disadvantage which has not been significantly reduced by policy interventions and legislation’ [with] ‘around half of working age disabled people not in work. Most are economically inactive rather than unemployed. Significant proportions (30-40 per cent depending on definition) say, however, that they want to work’ (UKCES, 2011: v).

The report also notes that disabled people are twice as likely to have no qualifications compared with non-disabled people. In addition, disabled people are under-represented in many occupations projected to expand (e.g. managerial and professional) and over-represented in occupations expected to decline (junior administrative and manual). The UKCES report highlights the significance that having the relevant skills can play in contributing to the labour market position and situation of disabled people. Having qualifications has been shown to significantly improve the life chances and employment outcomes for disabled people. In Fulfilling Potential: building a deeper understanding of disability in the UK today (ODI/DWP, 2013), for example, in 2012, 71 per cent of disabled graduates had gained employment compared to 42 per cent of disabled non-graduates.

For young people the gap is beginning to close between disabled and non-disabled people in terms of qualifications: the proportion of disabled 19 year olds without a level 3 qualification has fallen from 74 per cent in 2000 to 53 per cent in 2010; and the gap between disabled and non-disabled 19 year olds has reduced by 11 per cent in the same period (the gap now stands at 11 per cent) (ODI/DWP, 2013). More disabled people are going to university than in earlier years, although there remains an eight per cent gap (in 2009-10 33 per cent of disabled people were in higher education compared to 41 per cent of non-disabled people). Despite these improvements:

Employment rates for young disabled people have dropped from 46.0 per cent in 2001 to 36.0 per cent in 2012.5

1 http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=18

2http://odi.dwp.gov.uk/docs/fulfilling-potential/building-understanding-main-report.pdf

3 ibid

4 http://odi.dwp.gov.uk/disability-statistics-and-research/disability-facts-and-figures.php#gd2

Young disabled people aged 18-24 are twice as likely to be not in education, employment or training as non-disabled young people.

At age 16, aspirations between disabled and non-disabled young people are broadly the same. By 26, disabled people are more likely to be out of work than their non-disabled peers (at age 24 the employment gap is 36 per cent), more likely to feel hopeless and to agree that ‘nothing I do makes any difference’. Something goes wrong for many young disabled people during this early part of adulthood.

This suggests that whilst attainment of educational qualifications is improving for some groups of disabled people, there remain significant numbers ‘left behind’ for whom effective skills and employment offers are particularly needed. Skills and qualifications make a big difference to disabled people’s employment opportunities: in 2012, 71 per cent of disabled graduates had gained employment compared to 42 per cent of disabled non-graduates; and the employment rate for disabled people with any qualifications is substantially higher (54 per cent) than those with no qualifications (17 per cent).6 Comparisons between disabled and non-disabled people’s employment that ‘control for’ qualifications find far smaller employment gaps than the 30 per cent overall rate experienced at present.

For people acquiring impairments later in working life there are different challenges. Disability may result in people acquiring fewer qualifications, but equally early educational disadvantage raises the likelihood of becoming disabled later in life.7 The employment rate for disabled people aged 50 and over has increased from 34.9 per cent in 2001 to 41.0 per cent in 2012 (a faster rate than for non-disabled people). Nonetheless significant numbers of people acquiring an impairment during working life fall out of the world of work, sometimes for long periods, and lack of skills is a factor preventing them from re-engaging in the labour market. For instance, 300,000 leave work each year due to an impairment or health condition; many indicating that they would prefer to stay at work (Sayce 2011). They may require skills support that can work alongside support to re-enter employment.

There is evidence that greater support for disabled people’s skills would support growth. The Social Market Foundation estimated in 2007 that ‘improving the skills of disabled people to world leading levels by 2020 would give a boost equivalent to 18 extra months of growth over 30 years, some £35 billion’ (cited in Crowther and Sayce 2013).

Additional factors as well as qualifications are also crucial. Fulfilling Potential (ODI/DWP 2013) outlines that having relevant work experience, accurate information and positive support from professionals, those involved in service delivery and employers are key enablers in making the transition from education to employment. Key barriers include encountering negative attitudes where disabled people believe that their abilities are not seriously considered, lack of awareness amongst professionals about the types of support available to disabled young people and not being given opportunities to demonstrate their abilities rather than what they may have difficulties with. Young disabled people are asking for more opportunities to undertake work-related training including apprenticeships and internships as they recognise these are significant to building their skills to gain employment (ODI/DWP, 2013).

5 (Labour Force Survey Q2 2012, Appendix Table 40.2).6 (Labour Force Survey Q2 2012, Appendix Table 37). 7 Crowther N and Sayce L (2013) Taking Control of Employment Support. See also UK Commission for employment and skills (2011) Disability and skills in the changing economy

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People with specific impairments can find it more difficult than others to enter the employment market; these include people with learning disabilities and people with mental health conditions who have an employment rate of just under 15 per cent. Older people, who acquire an impairment relating to heart, blood pressure, circulation, chest or breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis and diabetes also have low employment rates (ODI/DWP, 2013).

The Equality and Human Rights Commission, in their report, Working Better (EHRC, 2012) confirmed that the aspirations and expectations of disabled people of securing meaningful employment are no different from the aspirations and expectations of their non-disabled counterparts. Their findings were based on a range of research activities including previous research on the aspirations and expectations of disabled people (EHRC, 2010; Riddell et al, 2010), the experiences of disabled people in the workplace, data from the Commission’s Helpline, complaints and employment tribunal data, employer consultation and focus groups with disabled people. However, research shows that the transition into employment can present many challenges particularly for young people with a learning difficulty and/or disability, and that they are more likely to fare worse than their non-disabled counterparts (see for example, Burchardt, 2005). Burchardt recognises that gaining skills and qualifications and ‘taking one’s first steps in the labour market’ (2005: 6) is crucial to achieving real social inclusion.

Having realistic opportunities to train or re-train and learn new skills to improve chances of gaining or retaining employment is important for the majority of people of working age. For disabled people who already are disadvantaged in accessing the labour market it is even more so. Statistics published by the Business Disability Forum (formerly the Employers’ Forum on Disability)8 show that two per cent of the working age UK population become disabled every year and that 78 per cent of disabled people acquire their impairment aged 16 or older.

The Sayce review (2011) states that there are significant inequalities in the experiences between different groups of disabled people. This includes those that are disabled from birth and those who acquire an impairment later in life:

Employers, for example, find it more challenging to employ people with fluctuating conditions, and this review seeks to address this and other differences of experience. (Sayce, 2011: 42)

The Disability Rights UK commissioned the Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University to conduct this review of current literature on work-related skills and disability. The aim of the literature review is to assist Disability Rights UK in informing the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) of potential options for policy initiatives that could strengthen work-related skills of disabled people so that they can retain work and reach their potential in line with the government’s strategies. In particular, we have been asked to:

identify a range of approaches to increase the work-related skills of disabled people to move into work, retain employment and to progress in employment;

focus on young people (14-25) and those of working age who experience an impairment while in work;

identify evidence in the UK and internationally to include apprenticeships, adult learning, training and work experience for both school students/leavers and working age adults

include people with different impairments;

8 See http://www.disabledgo.com/en/media4

include available evidence on benefits to disabled people, to employers, to the economy and cost effectiveness;

include critical factors determining the success or failure of approaches to increasing the work related skills of disabled people.

For the purposes of this review, the definition being used for disability is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) definition of disability as provided in the Equality Act 2010, as someone who has ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. ‘Work-related skills’ are defined as skills and qualifications which would assist the person in obtaining or progressing in employment; these can include generic skills such as undertaking an interview, creative thinking, problem-solving, teamwork etc. but can also refer to job-related skills specific to a particular job role.

The review also recognises that disabled people are not one homogenous group, as Riddell et al (2010) argue, ‘there are many people with health conditions which may affect their employment who do not fit into categories….some individuals may fit into several categories and face more than one set of barriers to employment’ (Riddell et al, 2010: 57).

The review sets out the methodology then outlines the policy background relating to employment and skills, followed by a review of different approaches to developing work-related skills in a range of contexts. These are organised in four subsections: individual advice, guidance and work skills support; education and training provision; approaches which offer employment-based activity combined with some form of learning alongside and the fourth subsection reviews approaches which are solely or predominantly based with the employer. The final section summarises and discusses the approaches including identifying the critical factors that need to be considered for each approach to be successful.

2. Methodology of literature reviewThe methodology adopted for this review incorporates elements of two different approaches. The first is a critical and reflexive narrative review (Dixon-Woods, 2002), in which researcher expertise is utilised in a critically informed way to identify and assess the range of work in the field, highlight themes, approaches and evidence, and note any gaps in the field. The second approach is that of a systematic qualitative review (Booth, 2001), which involves purposively sampling the literature relevant to the research questions, and paying attention to studies that challenge other findings and/or that represent minority views. The approach adopted is therefore systematic and transparent (Noblit and Hare, 1988: 12). The review has been conducted as follows:

2.1 Stage one: scoping exercise The review was undertaken following a discussion with Disability Rights UK about the requirements of the review and was carried out between August and October 2013. Subsequent to this, minor additions and amendments were made in September 2014 following comments from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions. These included the inclusion of more recent relevant evaluation reports. The initial stage of the review involved identifying the range of potentially relevant literature. It was informed by the aims of the literature review, and undertaken using the following methods:

Searches of key electronic databases [Academic Search Complete and Education Research Complete (Ebscohost databases), ERIC, Education-line, Google and Google Scholar]. For each of these databases, searches were conducted using combinations of the

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following key words including: disabled; disability; impairments (and specific impairments such as mental health); workplace training; work skills; job retention; training; rehabilitate; vocational; skills development, different types of impairments; employability, equip to work; skills for work, recruitment; supported employment.

Targeted (systematic) searches of key journals (including Disability & Society, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, Journal of Disability Studies, Journal of Education and Work, Social Policy & Administration; Journal of Inclusive Education). The bibliographies of articles have also been reviewed to identify additional relevant publications.

Web searches, including websites of key organisations (including Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Equality and Human Rights Commission, International Labour Organisation, National Skills Forum, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, Disability Rights UK, Business Disability Forum, Office for Disability Issues).

Academics working in the field of disability studies were also contacted via the Disability Research Forum and a number of responses were received from academics in England and other countries including Australia and Poland.

Whilst searching for terms such as ‘disability and work skills’ the initial search brought up 182 results; similarly searching ‘disability, skills and work-related’ brought up 64 results. These results and the results of other searches were systematically reviewed for relevance.

2.2 Stage two: production of criteria for inclusion in the reviewBased on the initial scoping exercise, criteria were established to assess the literature for relevance and quality, and to meet the aims of the review. The key criteria for definite inclusion were:

texts specifically on disabled people aged 14-25 and those already in work experiencing an impairment;

research conducted in the UK; research dated from 1999 onwards; research judged to be of methodological and/or theoretical quality.

Because of the difficulty of finding research that met all of these criteria, a decision was then made to include:

relevant texts and research on disabled people from other countries published in English; key texts dated prior to 1998; texts that, when assessed together, provided important information, even though

individually they may not have met the criteria for methodological and/or theoretical quality.

As Edwards and colleagues (cited by Booth, 2001) have argued, there is a case for balancing methodological rigour with the weight of the message, and including texts where the latter is particularly important or significant. Several texts were identified in this review that were based on individual experiences or accounts and which, on their own, may not be judged as meeting the required standards of methodological rigour. However, the cumulative strength of the message when several of these accounts were assessed together was deemed sufficiently convincing to be relevant to the aims of this review.

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2.3 Stage three: analysis of literatureRelevant texts identified through the scoping exercise, and meeting the above criteria, were entered into an EndNote database along with accompanying notes. An analysis of the literature was conducted to identify key themes and any gaps in research.

3. Policy Context relating to employment and skills The Wolf Report (2011)9 in a review of vocational education for young people argued that the current system was failing many young people and that more needed to be done to ensure access to high quality, relevant and a varied range of learning and employment pathways in a context where there were significantly fewer job vacancies available. Wolf reported that employers continue to value work experience not just qualifications; and apprenticeships are one way of achieving the work-related skills valued by employers. Wolf identified the role of apprenticeships as a ‘key route to skilled employment’ (Wolf, 2011: 6) and suggested that the development of work-related skills should be a key priority for policy makers:

Helping young people to obtain genuine work experience – and, therefore, what the CBI calls ‘employability skills’ – should be one of the highest priorities for 16-18 education policy in the next few years. It is far more important than even a few years ago, because of labour market trends; and is made critical by the impact on youth unemployment of the most recent recession (Wolf, 2011:130).

Wolf identified clear underlying principles which should underpin the reform of vocational education. These are:

Vocational programmes should provide for, and be relevant, to the labour market and educational progression and not be about steering young people into programmes which are ‘effectively dead-end’.

Young people should be provided with clear, useful and accurate information to enable them to make informed and well-informed decisions. Wolf recognises that decisions as to which pathway to follow can be ‘life-determining’ therefore good information is critical.

The system needs to be simplified to both free up resources and to ‘encourage innovation and efficiency’ (Wolf, 2011: 9).

Wolf recognised, in the review, that there are many young people in England categorised as having special educational needs; but that much provision that is offered to these young people may be interpreted as perpetuating and legitimising failure rather than constructively meeting their real learning needs. Whilst a review of programmes designed for young people with special educational needs was beyond the remit of the Wolf review, it did recognise that much of the current provision is not sufficiently vocational to equip young people with special educational needs to progress on to employment.

In response, in the recent Green Paper, Support and Aspiration: a new approach to special educational needs and disability (2011) the Department for Education confirmed that it would build on the findings of the Wolf review to improve vocational and work-related learning options for young people with special educational needs or a disability. In the Department’s response to the

9 For information on Wolf recommendations and progress please refer to Wolf Recommendations Progress Report (DfE, Nov 2013) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wolf-recommendations-progress-report

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Green Paper consultation, it outlines plans to improve the training and employment opportunities for young people with a learning difficulty and/or disability. This includes proposals for a more flexible approach to study programmes for young people over 16; testing innovative ways of delivering work placements for 4000 young people who are 16-17 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), with approximately 400 of whom will have special educational needs or be disabled; and introducing a trial of supported internships as a new route into employment for young people with a statement or Learning Difficulty Assessment for whom an apprenticeship may not be considered a realistic option.

The initiative to test work experience placements was introduced in the government’s strategy document, Building Engagement, Building Futures10 (2012). This document also outlines plans to include greater investment on apprenticeships, to reform vocational education through new study programmes including work experience from September 2013, and the Youth Contract to assist young people in securing employment. These plans include provision for supporting young people who are disabled or have special educational needs.

In April 2013 the Government published its latest skills strategy, Rigour and Responsiveness in Skills11, which sets out its proposals to strengthen the skills system and the role of the National Careers Service. It outlines a number of developments including a framework for skills to address some of the difficulties that unemployed learners have faced. This will involve an approach to skills screening and assessment to identify a person’s training needs early to direct them to the appropriate training. This will be carried out through Jobcentre Plus, National Careers Service and colleges and includes:

better partnership working between Jobcentre Plus, colleges and Work programme providers;

ensuring the continuing of strong joint working between National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus to ensure adults get the support they need;

improving communication channels between unemployed people about the opportunities that are available to them and our expectations about how those opportunities will be taken up;

providing incentives for training providers to encourage them to achieve employment outcomes;

reviewing other relevant work-related qualifications or licences to practise to fund for unemployed learners in addition to qualifications that are already funded e.g. food hygiene certificates.

Other significant new developments include:

testing a new approach to employer ownership of skills – incentivising employers in their sectors or regions, with their supply chains, to work with partners to develop pathways into skills and employment that meet employers’ needs;

investment in programmes – and industrial partnerships – that scale up apprenticeships and traineeships;

10 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214602/building-engagement-building-futures-summary.pdf

11 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/186830/13-960-rigour-and-responsiveness-in-skills-amended.pdf

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supporting and incentivising disability confident employers.

All these developments place greater emphasis on the demand side – the employer – than the supply side, to solve long-standing problems of mis-match between skills provided and employer need.

If these developments grow, this suggests that a key future question for effective skills interventions for disabled people will be how to support and incentivise employers to deliver inclusive programmes. There are examples of employers that are supporting disabled and other disadvantaged people through apprenticeships – like Barclays and BT – and evidence from their experience is likely to be important over the coming years.

3.1 Youth GuaranteeInternationally, the concept of a youth guarantee is a scheme which has been adopted to tackle the issue of youth unemployment and is currently being implemented in several countries across Europe, and in other countries such as New Zealand. Several countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark have implemented youth guarantees as far back as the 1980s and 1990s. The main aim of a Youth Guarantee scheme is to provide all young people with some form of entitlement to a job, training or education to ensure a positive transition from school to work and to prevent long-term unemployment. There are broadly three different pathways within a youth guarantee: a) education and training provision; b) employment services and programmes which include job-search support and c) other labour market measures such as business start-up programmes.

For young people to be eligible for support through a youth guarantee there are key criteria to meet – age up to 25, length of time unemployed and educational attainment. The duration of the intervention can vary but will have limits for example in Sweden participation in the scheme is limited to 15 months and in Finland on the job training is for a maximum period of 12 months. Young people who participate in the youth guarantees across Europe are able to receive some kind of payment which is enhanced in terms of the unemployment benefits limit. In Poland, for example, young people are able to receive a ‘scholarship of up to 120 per cent’ of the unemployment benefit if they participate in training or apprenticeship and 100 per cent if remain in education beyond compulsory level.

There is limited evidence from evaluations in Finland and Sweden (Mascherini, 2012) suggesting some positive impact short-term in terms of moving into employment following participation in the scheme. Participation was also found to be effective in providing a smooth transition from education into the labour market, and in keeping young people connected to the labour market or education which can prevent the damaging effects of long-term unemployment. However, there are questions which need further investigation such as whether the young people would have found work even if they had not participated, and young people who are long-term unemployed having lower success than new entrants.

An ILO policy briefing paper12 suggests that the following are required for a ‘well-functioning’ youth guarantee scheme:

early intervention and a focus on targeting those who face multiple barriers; effective and well-established capacity to administer the schemes with adequate funding; cooperative arrangements with organisations including employer organisations, trade

unions, schools, educational and training providers;12 International Labour Office policy brief: Youth guarantees: a response to the youth unemployment crisis?

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strong education and training provision.

A Memorandum for the Commission noted the Council’s recommendation to establish a Youth Guarantee for Member States to ‘ensure that all young people up to the age of 25 receive "a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education."’13. The UK Government’s response to this recommendation during a European Scrutiny Committee (September 2013) in The Explanatory Memorandum for the Commission Communication: Working together for Europe’s young people – a Call to action on youth unemployment stated that:

There are extensive arrangements in place within the UK to tackle youth unemployment including many measures recommended under the Youth Guarantee. With 80 per cent of young people flowing off Jobseeker’s Allowance within 6 months, it was felt that a rigid guarantee at 4 months would not be cost effective.

4. Type of approaches to work-related skills development

There are a number of approaches providing work-related skills development and support for disabled people. For the purposes of this review these approaches have been organised under four broad categories: individual advice, guidance and general work skills support; education and training provision; combination of employment-based training and study; and solely or predominantly employer-based provision. These categories do overlap somewhat and the boundaries are not totally fixed. Following each of the four approaches there will be a summary discussion of the issues which emerge, drawing on evidence from existing evaluations and reports where available.

4.1 Individual advice, guidance and work skills support This section focuses on the provision of individualised advice, guidance and skills support that is open to disabled people, both young people and adults, to assist them in seeking suitable training and/or employment. It outlines what is on offer and, drawing on evidence where available, discusses the issues around these approaches including potential barriers and any benefits that are identified. Finally, it will seek to identify the key factors that are effective in providing quality relevant advice and guidance. The approaches discussed here are:

Careers advice and guidance in schools and via National Careers Service. The role of disability employment advisers. Guidance and skills support through Government work programmes. Peer support and mentoring.

4.1.1 Careers advice and guidance Careers guidance is available and is currently provided by schools for young people and the National Careers Service for adults and young people in England. The delivery of careers

13 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmeuleg/83-xiii/8349.htm

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guidance for young people was revised in September 2012 with the introduction of a new duty on schools which saw the responsibility for delivery transferred from local authorities to schools and the National Careers Service, following the ending of the Connexions service. Local authorities still have a legal duty to support young people up to the age of 19 to participate in education or training. The duty also applies to young people with a learning difficulty and/or disability up to the age of 25.

Schools have a duty to secure impartial, independent careers guidance for pupils in years 8-13. They are expected to fund this service from existing budgets. From September 2013 an equivalent requirement was placed on further education (FE) colleges and sixth form colleges through their funding agreement. The new requirement applies to all students up to the age of 18 and 19-25 year olds with a current Learning Difficulty Assessment or an Education, Health and Care Plan. According to the latest statutory guidance14 published in April, 2014 careers guidance should:

be presented in an impartial manner; include information on the range of education or training options, including apprenticeships

and other vocational pathways and ensure that pupils have information on the full range of options;

be guidance that the person giving it considers will promote the best interests of the pupils to whom it is given;

offer mentoring and coaching, visits to higher education and workplaces, networking events, careers fairs and inspirational speakers;

measure the effectiveness of their careers activity using data on education, training and employment of previous pupils.

The guidance states that ‘schools should help every pupil develop high aspirations and consider a broad and ambitious range of careers. Inspiring every pupil through more real-life contacts with the world of work can help them understand where different choices can take them in the future’ (DfE, 2014: 5).   A recent Ofsted report (2013) on the provision of careers guidance in schools reported on findings from a survey of 60 schools and found that three-quarters of schools visited by Ofsted were not delivering adequate careers advice. . In a keynote speech outlining the report findings Karen Adriaanse HMI, National Lead for Careers Guidance for Ofsted 15, stated:

1 in every 5 schools roughly that we saw, actually had good careers guidance across the board that met the needs of their students. At the other end, about 1 in 5 did virtually nothing, they hadn’t responded to the duty at all, and they did not provide adequate careers guidance for the vast majority of their students. And the other schools, the ones in the middle, some students, mostly in year 11 actually, received often good individual support and good guidance to help them make decisions about their immediate future.

Karen Adriaanse also noted that to ensure successful provision it needed to be responsive and flexible and that in the schools where good careers guidance had been identified they had ‘buy in from the top’:

14 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-for-young-people-in-schools

15 Careers guidance in England’s schools – the current state of play, Karen Adriaanse HIM, National Lead for Careers Guidance; Westminster Employment Forum Keynote Seminar: Next steps for Careers Advice and Guidance 17 October 2013

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Governors, leaders, were committed to it; it was a strategic priority, there was commitment to it, it had funding, it had support, and it was evaluated. Indeed, everything was evaluated so senior managers knew how effective their systems for careers guidance were.

Another report by Barnardo’s (2013), drawing on findings from interviews with young people who are disadvantaged in some way, found that inadequate information and advice was sometimes given by schools despite the duty that schools and colleges have under the Education Act 2011 to provide independent face-to-face guidance for pupils and learners with special educational needs, learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Barnardo’s points out that this is a ‘should’ not a ‘must’ in that they only need to ‘have regard’ to this part of the guidance. This therefore may not be happening in all schools.

Barnardo’s also found that the information was often gender-specific and/or had little or no connection to the aspirations of the young person. In addition they reported that young people are sometimes not able to access web-based information as they are not always digitally literate or have access to internet services. Their recommendations were for more face-to-face quality guidance, preferably outside of the schools setting. They also recommended making the web-based services more user-friendly and changes to the helpline to ensure that calls could be made free of charge by young people using mobile phones16.

As the reports above suggest the changes introduced to the delivery of careers guidance provision are having an impact on the quality of careers guidance provided to young people. This is likely to have a significant impact for young disabled people, who have traditionally not fared well in the transition from education to the labour market. In the past, in some Connexions services across the country there was a specialist adviser to support disabled students; however these posts have now disappeared in a lot of regions across England.

There was a ministerial statement Inspiration Vision17 and government response in the form of an action plan (DfE, 2013a) to the recommendations in Ofsted’s review setting out improvements to the quality of careers guidance services. This included extending the activities of the National Careers Service ‘to improve the careers resources that are available to schools, young people and parents’ (DfE, 2013:10). The action plan included the National Careers Service acting as a facilitator to bring schools and employers closer together; raising awareness of the information available; and working more effectively with other organisations nationally and locally. The action plan also responded to the recommendation about improving the online services.

The National Careers Service in England provides a range of information, advice and guidance which can be found through their website18. The service is delivered in the community by eleven prime contractors in twelve geographical areas. There are also two prime contractors for the helpline (BIS, 2013). It offers support to young people and adults who may want a change in their career, those who may not have employment or have been redundant, and those returning to work. The National Careers Service in England is delivered through an online and telephone helpline

16 There have been some changes to the National Careers Service provision since the Barnardo’s report including the introduction of NCS application for mobile phones (May 2013) and call back service for those ringing from mobile phones

17 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-inspiration-vision-statement

18 https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

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offer available to everyone aged 13 and over and a face-to-face offer for adults over 19 (or 18+ if on out of work benefits) including adults in custody. The face-to-face service is located in the community and co-located in job centres. It provides extra support for people who face additional barriers, these include young people who are NEET and adults and young people with a learning difficulty and/or disability. Up to three face-to-face meetings with an adviser are guaranteed for people who have a learning difficulty and/or disability.

The National Careers Service website does not make clear any specific links to information or advice for people who may have a disability on its home page; although a search does bring up links such as ‘Studying with disabilities’ and ‘Return to Work after long-term sickness’. These provide general information on accessing education and training, information on Access to Work, and government programmes such as Work Choice, training schemes, and advice on benefits and legal advice.

The Evaluation of the National Careers Service Partnership Delivery (BIS, 2013) looked at the effectiveness of delivering the National Careers Service in partnership with other organisations and the added value of delivering the Service in venues other than National Service Careers premises. The research incorporated an evaluation of the Deepened Co-location Trials with Jobcentres and Community Walk-in Pathfinders. The evaluation, based on telephone interviews with representatives of the contractors delivering the service, service staff and customers, found although customers do appear to rate the service highly, awareness of the service is low; specific barriers include perceptions about the cost of the helpline and lack of skills and confidence in using the online internet service. These findings support the concerns that Barnardo’s express in their recent research report of the service.

The evaluation also referred to the Community Walk-in Pathfinders, one aim of which was to identify possible ways to engage better with young people who were NEET, however the evaluation noted that Pathfinders had made little progress with this group. Reasons included the priority for meeting targets related to funding and short timescales for planning. Overall, the evaluation concluded that there is a need to improve the evaluation of the service, particularly in terms of outcomes. Whilst the evaluation does include the customer experience of accessing the National Careers Service in partnership with other organisations there is no explicit mention of the quality of the experiences of disabled people in accessing the service.

4.1.2 Disability Employment AdvisersDisability Employment Advisers (DEAs) are available at Jobcentre Plus offices to provide advice and support to people with a learning difficulty, disability or long-term health condition – including people who may have recently acquired a disability or health condition. Their role is to provide employment assessments, liaise with employers and where appropriate to recommend suitable programmes or initiatives such as Work Choice. However, a recent study by Goldstone (2008) looked at the role in 15 areas across England and found that only large Jobcentres had a full-time DEA. Goldstone also found that in some cases the DEA was expected to do other work, often having to prioritise it over their main role. Riddell (2002) found that the qualifications and skills of DEAs were not always the most suited to the role e.g. often having social care backgrounds rather than knowledge of vocational rehabilitation.

4.1.3 Advice and guidance as part of Government ProgrammesSince the mid-1990s government policy has had a focus on encouraging integration in the labour market for disabled people as a way of not only tackling issues related to social exclusion and

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poverty but also with the aim of reducing the welfare benefits budget (Bennett & Millar, 2005 cited in Clayton et al, 2010). A range of policies have been introduced aimed at improving the work opportunities and equipping disabled people to become more employable as well as reducing the number of disabled people claiming long-term benefits. These policies include the Work Programme and specialist provision such as Pathways to work (2003 – 2011 in England) and the Work Choice Programme.

The Work Programme is a DWP-funded mainstream employment programme designed to provide support to people who are not in work and claiming benefits to find employment. In Wales and Scotland there are also a number of initiatives designed to support people into employment including in Wales the Want2Work Initiative and A4E Pathways Programme in Scotland. The Work Programme provides a range of services including pre-employment support, assessments, in-work support and when exiting from the programme. Work Programme providers are contracted by DWP to deliver this provision; some of the providers also specialise in providing for particular groups which include disabled people who are in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). People are usually referred to the programme by JCP advisers but also can opt to volunteer.

Information and advice about the Work Programme was given in a variety of ways including by both JCP staff and service providers. It appears that the JCP staff were only able to provide limited information and in some cases were reluctant to promote the services of the programme providers (Newton et al, 2012). Providers, on the other hand, offered briefing sessions in a range of formats including one-to-one, group or telephone contact. The evaluation suggests that there was mixed feedback from participants about the value of the sessions. There was also input from specialist providers who provided support for disabled people and those wanting to take up self-employment. Several participants who had volunteered to go on the Programme provided feedback on the quality of initial information they received saying that they had found it informative and helpful. However, some disability advisers commented that they would not advise voluntary participation to the programme as they considered that the JCP had better qualified specialists to support specific claimants – they also referred them to Work Choice as an alternative option.

In terms of implementation, an evaluation of the programme (Newton et al, 2012) reports that some JCP advisers, including DEAs, who despite having attended training, were still unsure about the referral rules for ESA claimants which they found quite complicated. The evaluation drew on interviews with JCP staff, service providers and participants in six of the eighteen contract package areas. There were concerns at the recruitment stage from some JCP advisers about the use of random allocation to service providers in relation to disabled participants but there was an option to override the system.

Recently published data for the Work Programme (ERSA, September 201319) indicates that the programme has supported 62,000 people into work between the period of April-June 2013. The data also shows that young people appear to be doing well under the scheme. The data was collected from all the contractors delivering the Work Programme and relates to ‘job starts’ and ‘job outcomes’ for those who remain in the job for at least six months. Whilst this is positive for the general population the data does, however, show a significantly lower number of ‘job starts’ for disabled people on ESA. The figures released by DWP for the period April 2012 - March 2013 show that Work Programme providers failed to meet the target for new ESA claimants of 16.5 per cent, only achieving 5.3 per cent20. This target for ESA claimants is substantially lower than for the other two groups, those on JSA 18-24 year olds, and those on JSA aged 25 and over although the

19 http://ersa.org.uk/media/news/work-programme-supports-62000-work-past-quarter14

rationale for such is not made clear. For the 18-24 year olds on JSA the target was set at 33 per cent and according to the data providers reached 31.9 per cent, and for those aged 25 and over on JSA the target was set at 27.5 per cent and achieved 27.3 per cent. From the data it can be seen that the targets for those on JSA, even though much higher than those on ESA, were closer to being reached. The target for those on ESA was significantly lower, but still failed to be met.

The ERSA report states that it is taking longer for people who are claiming ESA to get into employment due to having ‘the most significant barriers to the labour market’ although these are not detailed. The report has called for a review of ‘the entirety of resources available to help this group, including giving Work Programme providers greater use of health and skills budgets’ (ERSA, 2013: 5). The evidence from the evaluation of the Programme suggests that it is not clear whether the barriers were being dealt with in an effective or consistent way by providers. On the contrary, the evidence seems to suggest that providers were able to do more for applicants facing fewer barriers and support for those requiring more specialist help was less widespread (Newton et al, 2012).

The work experience and work trial elements of the Work Programme will be discussed in Section 4.4 on employment-based provision.

The development of the Work Programme was informed by the evaluation of the previous Pathways to Work Programme. Pathways to Work (2003-2011) was a programme designed to assist people to get work who were in receipt of ESA or incapacity benefit (IB) because of a health condition or disability. It was tailored specifically for each person and delivered by JCP and a range of other organisations. It was a voluntary scheme which provided support including:

skilled personal adviser support; access to specialist employment programmes to develop skills; tailored support.

The programme was evaluated (Knight et al, 2013; Becker et al, 2010) throughout to assess if the programme had helped more people on ESA or IB to move into work or leave claiming benefits. Data was collected on IB claims and HMRC employment records, and two large scale telephone surveys with 2007 and 2008 incapacity benefit claimants were conducted.

According to the evaluation, using data from the surveys, (Becker et al, 2010) a ‘substantial proportion’ of customers using Pathways to Work considered it to be worthwhile. In most cases, customers indicated that they found the meetings with advisers helpful. However, in terms of securing employment, there were mixed results with new and repeat customers more likely to be in paid work two years after starting the programme compared with existing customers who were less likely to be in paid work or looking for work. The main reason that customers provided for not being in work was due to health reasons which, according to the report, customers saw as a barrier to moving into employment.

Based on a systematic review of UK studies into the effectiveness of national return-to-work programmes Clayton et al (2010) found evidence that personal advisors and individual case management did help some participants into work through initiatives including Pathways to Work

20 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210226/work-programme-stats-summary-june-2013_v2_020713.pdf

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but the results showed bias in the selection of participants by personal advisors who selected clients who were seen as more ‘work-ready’. Personal advisors were set targets as to how many disabled people they could transfer from claiming benefits and into work, and it was thought this may have encouraged ‘cream-skimming’. Clayton et al also found that claimants’ motivation could be ‘undermined if they felt the purpose [of the programme] was just to move them off disability benefits’. The review concludes that there is a need for more long-term and sustained support to help those ‘furthest from the market’ and that these kinds of programmes need to be changed to reflect meeting their needs. However, there are some criticisms of the concept of ‘distance from the labour market’ suggesting it may lead to a ‘stepping stones’ approach; international evidence suggests that rapid job search with (where necessary) intensive support is much more effective than lengthy periods of work preparation: the longer a person is out of work, the harder it is to enter or return to the labour market (see for example Rinaldi et al, 2010, Sayce 2011).

Clayton et al (2010) identified that these programmes had two ‘principal orientations’.

One centres on attempts to make the employment environment more “disability-friendly”. The second aims to increase the ‘employability’ of the disabled individuals themselves, through developing their skills, education etc. Thus interventions can be classified by their underpinning programme logic or ‘theory of change’ which is the explicit or implicit reasoning about how the intervention will bring about the desired change in the perceived problem (Clayton et al, 2010: 3).

Riddell et al (2010) also commented on the quality of the providers offering the service and suggest that to have a ‘good experience of Pathways to Work…will depend on the quality of the training, support and work experience available through the providers to whom they may be referred’. (Riddell et al, 2010: 54).

The National Audit Office concluded that overall the Pathways to Work programme had made little difference to addressing the employment needs and outcomes of disabled people:

Apart from the possible contribution of obligatory work focused interviews, however, there is no evidence that new claimants accessing other elements of Pathways support, at an estimated cost of £94 million in 2008-09,were more likely to find sustainable employment as a result (NAO, 2010: 12).

Another programme designed to offer three different levels of support for disabled people is the Work Choice programme which is provided by a range of providers across England. The levels of support include entry support to assist people in finding a job including providing advice on gaining skills; support in the workplace to assist the employee to stay in the job role and longer-term support which may build up to a point where the employee no longer needs it.

The Work Choice programme is currently being evaluated using a case study approach drawing on data from survey and interviews; the findings from the first two phases of delivery have recently been published: the Early Implementation Wave in 2011 and the Steady State Wave in 2012. The overall aims of the evaluation were to explore what works and any indicators of specific areas of improving performance. In both waves of the research, service providers reported that they had brokered training in line with participants’ needs with the majority stating that they had formed positive working relationships with local training providers to gain access to training for the programme’s participants. A small number of specialist providers said that they had delivered their training in-house where participants needed specialised support and training.

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Some participants were provided with personalised support which included one-to-one sessions with an adviser, dyslexia assessments, and help completing benefits checks, but a lot of the support was organised and structured including job clubs and in-house training programmes. Some participants were put in contact with others with a similar disability which some specialist providers suggested that they found of benefit in terms of peer support and being able to share experiences:

‘Some people had never met anyone else with sight loss so it’s very good for that. And they share information, different projects and different services that are going on for people with sight loss or different groups that they’re involved with outside of here, they share that information’. Specialist provider, Steady State Wave (DWP, 2013c: 121-122)

In terms of impact the pre-work support provided on the Work Choice programme was perceived positively by many participants – with many of them stating that they did not think they would have found work without the support provided on the programme. Some of those had been long-term unemployed but felt that participation in the programme was enabling them to make significant progress towards gaining employment:

‘I think I’d have been unemployed for a few more years because it’s so hard when you’re a disabled person to get out there to get yourself noticed. I don’t think people really take you seriously and although employers are supposed to be mindful of people with disabilities and make changes and stuff, they don’t always do so.’ (Participant, Steady State Wave) (DWP, 2013c: 123).

Another participant spoke of developing skills and confidence:

It’s helped with understanding more … building up my skills as well, and confidence and people skills. I’ve been looking for a job since I left school but I’ve got nowhere. I’m starting to get somewhere now with [provider]’ (Participant, Steady State Wave) (DWP, 2013c: 123).

In terms of pre-work support delivery, the following were identified as being successful:

regular one-to-one support which is tailored and flexible to the needs of the participants; providing opportunities for participants to work together in groups to encourage peer

support, sharing of ideas and building interaction skills; adopting the ‘place then train’ approach used in a supported employment model to include

work trials and work placements; sharing good practice between programme providers and advisers.

However, the evaluation includes concerns about ‘creaming’21 whereby people facing the greatest barriers are not selected; this appears to be as a result of the way that the programme is funded which includes an outcomes-based element. The outcomes-based element was more significant in the funding model for the Work Programme than in the Work Choice Programme. Crowther and Sayce (2013) note that in Great Britain, as a whole, Work Choice supported 58 people with serious mental health problems into work each year; this compares to one NHS Trust in one part of London, which supported over 200 people with serious mental health problems into employment, using an evidence-based individual placement with support (IPS) model. It appears that although Work Choice was set up to serve those facing the greatest barriers to employment, it may not be meeting that goal. Work Choice also continues to provide over 2000 places in sheltered workplaces, and is not universally using evidence-based approaches like IPS.

21 Creaming’ describes the selection of more participants who are close to the labour market (DWP, 2013c)17

Below are comments from two providers who delivered both Work Choice and Work Programmes who claimed that, in delivering the Work Programme, they had been ‘instructed’ to focus on job outcomes for those ‘closest to work’ and most able to sustain employment which included disabled people :

‘What we’ve been told by management is don’t waste time on those people, they’re not going to get you a job outcome. So it’s very much a numbers game.’

(Provider of both Work Choice and Work Programme, Steady State Wave)

‘I think it’s a very bad experience for people with moderate to complex needs … Because of the aggressive nature of hitting targets … it’s the clients that are close to the labour markets that get the attention and by default the ones who are in need of the service probably don’t get the attention that they should do.’

(Provider of both Work Choice and Work Programme, Steady State Wave) (DWP, 2013c: 152).

In Australia, the JobAccess Programme is available to provide accessible and comprehensive information for both employers and employees with disabilities. It supports the removal of workplace barriers through a combination of technical advice and grants to carry out adaptations and enables disabled people to find or retain job through directories of vacancies and advice and provides a ‘one-stop’ shop to support disabled people to find work or who are in work. The information is delivered via telephone and websites which are user-friendly and available to employers, employees, job seekers and professionals and includes information on the full range of employment services as well as guides for job searching and recruitment. There are also databases of adjustments and solutions for the workplace, information on rights and responsibilities and case studies. The service is available to support people with disabilities, employers and employment service providers.

The programme was awarded a UN Award for Public Service in 2008 and selected as one of 40 international good practices by the Zero Project in 2012; it involves continuous consultation with stakeholders to ensure improvement and that it meets the needs of its users. However, whilst it has a high consumer satisfaction rate of 90 per cent it does appear not to have decreased unemployment rates; in addition it also acknowledges that for people with psychosocial disabilities there is a need for a more targeted approach, which is provided through other programmes in Australia (Fembek et al, 2012).

4.1.4 Peer Support and Mentoring Peer support, mentoring or buddying are recognised as alternative ways of supporting people with a range of impairments, including those with mental health issues and learning disabilities. This support can be provided to assist people in a number of ways including securing and maintaining employment. ‘Peer support is a system of giving and receiving help founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility and mutual agreement of what is helpful’ (Mead, 2003 cited in Mental Health Foundation briefing, August 201222). There are three recognised models; informal and adhoc, organised but unpaid, and peer support where the support person is part of a team contracted to provide services to users. The focus for all three is in terms of sharing of experiences to help and support one another. However for it to be successful it requires a number of factors: having clearly defined roles, access to appropriate training, support and supervision, and ensuring that staff are appropriately trained to ensure peer support workers are properly integrated. A recent briefing paper by the Mental Health Foundation

22 http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/content/assets/PDF/publications/need_2_know_peer_support1.pdf18

(2012) provides an example of the value of peer support in enabling people to move into employment:

Those people who have used either the peer support service run by the charity or by the NHS Trust here in [English city] have found it of great help. They are seen as a person rather than as a patient with a diagnosis. Particularly beneficial has been the hope engendered by seeing people who have been hospitalised with psychosis doing well and in work and also being able to talk with someone who really knows what you are going through as they have experienced similar things. We also find that the activities that are organised by the peer support workers are things that the young people really want to do.’ Policy Panel23

Another example in Austria, from the Zero Project, is the development of Peer Counselling as a social profession for people with disability-related experiences to provide a role model to give advice to their peers. It is designed to empower disabled people to enable them to lead an independent life, and to participate fully in society including employment (Fembek et al, 2012). Repper and Carter, in an evidence review of peer support in mental health, found that it prevented admissions and led to benefits in people’s lives (Repper and Carter 2011).

The Radiate Network, originally supported by Lloyds Banking Group and Disability Rights UK, is a further example of the use of peer support. The network is specifically for disabled people regarded as ‘high-flying, senior and talented’ with similar career experiences to share their experiences and to enable them to network in relation to their future careers. It also aims to influence employment practices on disability and to provide a peer mentoring role for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions who may be at an earlier stage in their careers.

The role of peer support is one which has been acknowledged and noted of value in other parts of this review, including as part of the government-led programmes and could be further developed to support disabled people into employment.

4.1.5 Summary From the evidence it would appear that the careers advice and guidance to support disabled people, both young people and adults is patchy across the UK. Schools have a responsibility to deliver this service independently but it appears that in many areas it is based on schools-based provision by staff with little or no training, and who may provide inadequate and sometimes incorrect information. Although there is an obligation to meet with disabled young people on a face-to-face basis there is no evidence that the adviser is sufficiently knowledgeable and informed to provide the most appropriate advice. A blend of online and face-to-face advice is indicated as necessary. Some young people, from disadvantaged backgrounds are also struggling with using the online and helpline services which further reduces their opportunities to gain relevant information and advice to support their futures. Accessibility of online resources to disabled people and improvements in digital inclusion are important precursors to disabled people being more able to use online information.

Whilst there has been some positive feedback regarding the new National Careers Service (NCS), the evaluation suggested there is a lack of awareness of the service. In addition, the same issues experienced by users of the schools’ provision apply to the service i.e. issues with having the digital skills and knowledge to access the website and difficulties with the helpline. The service does have an obligation to provide face-to-face consultations with disabled people but it is not clear as to whether they are sufficiently skilled to provide the best quality advice. The Government 23 Ibid

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does set out clear plans to improve the standards and quality of advice provided for the National Careers Service (2012) in its Reform Plan, The National Careers Service; the right advice at the right time. The Plan indicates a ‘new set of professional standards for careers advisers; a register of advisers holding postgraduate qualifications; and guidelines on how advisers can develop their own skills and gain higher qualifications. The Plan also includes clear guidelines for training and development of advisers including identifying the needs of customers, use of labour market data, skills to build confidence and motivation of clients, and working with employers, local services and in partnership with voluntary, community and other local organisations to help people get the support they need.

The role of DEAs was considered to be of value although availability to have access to a DEA was limited and often only in place in large JCPs. There were also some concerns about DEAs having relevant skills and experience to provide quality and relevant support and advice to disabled people, and they sometimes had to prioritise other duties including acting as gatekeepers to programmes and initiatives.

Government work support programmes do offer opportunities for some disabled people to enter employment; however it sometimes results in short-term placements or placements not suited to the individual’s career aspirations. There was positive feedback as to the usefulness of the advice, in particular they valued the one-to-one support, but also being able to work with other disabled people, build up peer support and further develop their interaction skills. These programmes appear to be least successful for people who have experienced long-term health conditions, and there is evidence that this may in part be prompted by the incentives and targets that service providers and JCP personal advisers are given.

The role of peer support and mentoring is one that has value in providing support and advice to disabled people accessing employment and in terms of career progression and is an activity which could be further developed and built upon.

The key factors that were identified as being of particular value in terms of providing pre-work advice, guidance and support were:

appropriately trained independent advisers. For advisers who work with people with an acquired impairment, disability and/or health condition, to have knowledge both of the labour market/employer requirements, and of what disabled people can and do achieve (ie high expectations) and experience of effective vocational rehabilitation (see later sections for evidence that ‘individual placement with support’ with rapid job search is far more effective than traditional models of vocational rehabilitation);

individualised and impartial face-to-face and one-to-one careers information and advice – including a sound basis of knowledge about what disabled people achieve, and ability to discuss an individual’s strengths, aptitude, interests, skills, qualifications and potential;

increased skills of employment advisers and/or the number of disability employment advisers to ensure there are appropriate staff to provide advice and guidance to disabled clients and to be able to liaise effectively with employers;

opportunities for participants to work together to build their interaction skills and have peer support;

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further development and use of the role of peer support, mentoring and counselling by and for disabled people to provide information, advice, and support for entering employment and in terms of career progression;

online and helpline resources that are accessible to disabled people; information provided in a variety of formats both online and off-line. It is also important to raise awareness of the services on offer and have clear signposting to ensure that the information can be located and easily accessed;

online services to be made user-friendly and to have a specific area to support people with disabilities including advice for those who newly acquire an impairment;

telephone helplines that are free to call (including from mobile phones) and user-friendly;

the services need to be regularly monitored and evaluated to assess that they are fulfilling their aims, including meeting the needs of disabled people;

ensure that incentives and targets of government programmes are not counter-productive in terms of assisting disabled people, particularly those that require the most support. Programmes need to be designed to incentivise behaviours that make sustainable employment more likely and realistic;

for some disabled people there is a need for more long-term sustained support on government initiatives which needs to be tailored to meet their needs.

4.2 Education and training provision There are a wide range of courses and study programmes which aim to prepare people for the world of work including people with a range of impairments. These include mainstream vocational courses, preparation for work and training programmes that are provided by higher education institutions, colleges, and other types of training providers. There are also discrete study programmes for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This education and training provision normally includes a study element as well as some form of work experience placement for short periods of time.

4.2.1 College study programmes Many further education (FE) colleges provide opportunities to gain vocational qualifications and valuable work-related skills. Mainstream provision can include a wide variety of courses specialising in developing skills in vocations such as hospitality and catering, hairdressing, childcare and business studies. Participation in these courses for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities aged up to 25 years would be with the support of Additional Learning Support (ALS) funding, where needed. There does not appear to be any readily available evidence to assess how successful disabled learners are in terms of successfully completing such courses.

There is also discrete provision offered at a range of colleges which can includes specific work-skills programmes such as Skills for Working Life; and Employability Skills. Two examples are provided below, cited in a publication for the National Skills Forum24 (2009), of building relevant work-related skills for young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities although there is no reported evaluation evidence of these:

24 http://www.policyconnect.org.uk/fckimages/NSF-%20People%20with%20Disabilities.pdf

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Lewisham College run an initiative called the ‘Posyganza Programme’ for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities which is a Team Programme company under the Young Enterprise scheme. The company provides a fresh flower service to the community and to the college. The aims of the programme are to develop work skills of the learners and to provide them with an understanding of the demands and responsibilities of the workplace. Lewisham College also works with numerous local employers to ensure disabled learners get work experience, and jobs in regular workplaces (Sayce 2011).

Lambeth College, hosts a ‘Healthy Gourmet Café’ which provides a catering service to both staff and learners in the college and is part of a social enterprise project for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The service is run as part of the Skills for Work BTEC Entry Level 1-3 qualification course which focuses on building their skills combined with a work experience placement in the café. The café provides a useful hospitality service and has provided catering for a number of special events in the local community. The course received a Beacon Award for providing learners with moderate learning difficulties with the opportunity to progress into paid work.

In a recent report by Ofsted, where it conducted a longitudinal study of 111 young people in different learning settings, it found that few young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make positive progress from school on to post-16 learning which leads to developing ‘greater independence; further study, supported or open employment; or provide skills for independent living’ (Ofsted, 2011: 2).

The report shows that for a significant proportion of learners on Foundation Learning programmes there were too few real opportunities for quality work experience to develop work-related skills. It recommends the need for effectively collecting destination data on young people as it recognises that:

Too little is known about the destinations of learners once they leave post-16 provision, particularly once they reach the age of 19 or 20. The providers visited were beginning to collect destination information, but funding agencies and local authorities did not have systematic procedures to collect this data to monitor the effectiveness of this provision in supporting progression (Ofsted, 2011: 3).

4.2.2 Work experience Work experience placements, as one element of a study programme, are another approach. OECD 201325 and UKCES 2011 argue strongly for combining work-based skills and learning. Employers’ top priority for their new recruits is experience (UKCES, 2012a)26 and experience of employment is a strong predictor of securing employment. On the basis of this evidence base, UKCES argues that rather than ‘earn or learn’ we should be encouraging young people to ‘earn and learn’. A number of initiatives are in place to increase employer-school partnerships and ‘good’ work experience. There is little information on how effectively these programmes are working for young disabled people and this requires further study.

25 OECD 2013 Skilled for Life? Key findings from the survey of adult skills

26 UKCES 2012 Employer Perspectives Survey 2012 Evidence report 64

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An initiative to pilot work experience placements was introduced in the Government strategy document Building engagement, building futures (DfE, 2012), which invited 25 colleges to test innovative ways to deliver work experience placements for 16 and 17 year olds who are not in education, employment or training, as part of post-16 study programmes. Several of the colleges involved testing approaches which included support for young people who are disabled or have special educational needs. The five approaches were:

Removing cost barriers for employers (for example, by providing materials or financial incentives).

Investigating specific challenges faced by small to medium-sized employers (SMEs) when offering work placements.

Providing extra resources to colleges (for example, to employ staff to organise work placements and liaise with employers).

Exploring the timing of placements for students (for example, investigating whether a block of time or individual days is most effective and why).

Supporting students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities or vulnerable/disadvantaged students (for example, considering support employers need to employ young people with specific needs).

The evaluation reported that the students were very positive about the benefits of participating, valued the experience of a real working environment and thought they had gained relevant skills necessary for employment which made them more work-ready. The evaluation (Sims et al, 2013) identified factors which contributed to successful work placements that colleges, schools and work-based providers should consider:

effective coordination, good matching of students to placements, flexibility in timing of placements and ensuring students are well prepared;

appointing a work experience coordinator; sharing the work experience ‘story’ across their institutions to maximise student and staff

engagement by explaining the benefits using examples of students; support for students undertaking placements including briefing and preparation, one-to-

one advice, visiting students on placement and in some cases paying for travel and work clothes. Enhanced support for students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities for example, mentors, coaches and support assistants;

monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness and quality of the work experience placements; follow-up contact and communication with employers including feedback on post-placement

progress made by students.

Some of the key barriers identified across all models to providing work experience placements for young people included:

bureaucracy relating to safeguarding learners and vetting employer premises e.g. health and safety, risk assessments, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS);

negative perceptions and publicity of providing unpaid work placements; initial reluctance amongst some employers to provide placements due to previous

negative experiences; there was the perception that young people had not been adequately prepared, matched or supported;

SMEs’ reluctance to participate due to support levels required - ie limited resources to supervise the learner;

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increased competition for work experience placements with employers due to other work schemes e.g. apprenticeships etc.;

being able to fit the work placement within the programme schedule ie alongside completing coursework and exams in some cases;.

reluctance by some learners to participate in work experience; travel to a placement can be an issue for some learners, which can limit opportunities for

finding suitable employers.

4.2.3 Higher education provisionAs well as colleges, adult learning providers and work-based learning, higher education institutions (HEIs) can play a part in equipping students with relevant work skills, both traditional age and mature returners. Recent statistics, referred to earlier, show that gaining a degree level

qualification can significantly improve employment outcomes (DWP, 2013a). A recent report on the development of employability skills for graduates (Lowden et al 2011), however, found that there is work to be done across the HE sector in successfully providing real opportunities for students to gain experience and training to successfully acquire work-related skills to enhance their employability.

Whilst the findings relate to all graduates, there is no specific mention of graduates who may have some form of disability; however, developing higher education courses to include practical work-related experience, in the form of a placement, internship or work-based learning, would clearly enhance the work-related skills of disabled graduates as well as their non-disabled counterparts.

The research used a combination of research methods including interviews with key stakeholders and HEIs, and employer case studies with UK and multi-national organisations. Whilst the report does provide examples of good practice in some HEIs it suggests that there are tensions and barriers to HEIs contributing to graduate employability; it also explores how employers and HEIs can work together to promote better graduate employability. The report highlights that employers feel that HE courses do not meet their needs even where they have provided their views regarding course design which have then been ignored.

It recommends that employability should be at the heart of strategic plans of HEIs, that a structured approach to placements, internships and work-based learning is implemented, and embedding these in all subject areas including those that have not previously considered using work-related strategies such as social science courses. Importantly too, is the need for meaningful partnerships and participation on HEI committees of employers and HEIs.

The role of placements, internships and work-based learning opportunities are identified as effective in equipping university students with relevant work-related skills and knowledge of the culture of employment; with employers highly valuing the use of these approaches to develop employability skills. Other employability activities which were identified as useful were employability awards and programmes, and involving employers in the design and delivery of courses. The employability awards, the report suggests, typically involves students choosing from a range of activities which involved up to 100 hours in gaining experience in a work setting

4.2.4 Local authorities’ mapping of voluntary provisionMany local authorities provide information regarding the provision of courses and programmes which are on offer in the local area. An example includes a ‘directory’ of provision which West

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Sussex County Council has put together showing the type of provision for learners with learning disabilities in the County. The directory has clear information about routes to work and the elements of support and skills training that are on offer delivered by a range of local providers which range from initial advice and guidance through to vocational and NVQ courses, work experience and short term work preparation courses. There are also a number of voluntary organisations that provide employment, training and skills services such as Barnardo’s, Scope, Employability and supported employment agencies among them Pluss, Base and Shaw Trust.

Under the Right to Control27, a number of organisations, led by disabled people, have enabled disabled peopled to have far more choice and control of employment support than is possible in more traditional voluntary or statutory sector provision; some disabled people have been able to manage their employment support, social and health care support to meet their own life aspirations and impairment-related needs.

4.2.5 TraineeshipsThe Government introduced Traineeships in August 2013 as a new training route the aim of which is to give young people the skills and vital experience they need to get an apprenticeship or other job. The Traineeships Framework for Delivery (published May 2014)28 sets out how Traineeships will be delivered in 2014/15. They are available to young people aged 16-24 inclusive including young people with Learning Difficulty Assessments or Education, Health and Care plans. The core content includes work preparation training, English and maths and a high quality work experience placement. The length of the traineeship is expected to be no more than six months in duration (the work placement element to last between 100-240 hours) and the anticipated outcome is to enable the young person to move on to an apprenticeship or into sustainable employment.

Traineeships are funded as part of 16-19 study programmes and/or the Adult Skills Budget. The trainees do not receive any form of payment but can access the 16-19 Bursary Fund and Discretionary Learner Support for 19-24 year olds. Young people in receipt of Job Seeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance can continue to claim these benefits whilst undertaking a traineeship.

Traineeships are an important part of the Government’s drive to tackle youth unemployment. They seek to address the employers’ concerns that young people often lack the right skills and attitudes when they apply for an apprenticeship or other job. UKCES research (2012) showed that only 24 per cent of employers recruited young people directly from education in the past two to three years and just seven per cent took on a 16 year old directly from school. Employers identified prior experience as hugely important, with 74 per cent saying work experience is critical or significant when recruiting. The OECD review (2010), quoted in the original DfE discussion paper on traineeships, also identified that the best approaches are a combination of study and work experience combined with mentoring in a tailored package for each individual learner.

27 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265782/work-choice-annex9.pdf

28 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-young-people-to-develop-the-skills-for-apprenticeships-and-sustainable-employment-framework-for-delivery

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The decision to introduce this programme was partly as a response to the Wolf Report (2011) but also from feedback from a consultation about what works in supporting young people to develop work skills and experience to move into sustainable employment (DfE 2013).

4.2.6 Residential training Residential Training Colleges offer courses to unemployed disabled people to assist them to find and maintain work or to become self-employed. There are nine colleges which offer residential training in different parts of England providing a variety of courses which vary between colleges. The colleges are distinct in the type of provision they are able to provide; five colleges provide training for pan-disability, three on visual impairment and one provides training for people with hearing impairments.

A recent report undertaken by an independent review panel of Residential Training provision stated that this kind of provision was an ‘important component of all the provisions made available by DWP to support disabled people to get in and stay in employment and that although ‘costly in terms of job outcomes achieved … saw no evidence that the provision does not offer valuable support to some disabled people, moreover in some cases it offers significant value and especially for those with significant barriers to employment and / or where additional skills need to be re-learnt as a result of the sudden and / or dramatic onset of some impairments’. (DWP, 2013b: 31). However, Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of Disability Rights UK, quoted in the same review, recommends significant changes suggesting that the funding for this type of provision would be better re-allocated to provide wider opportunities for gaining work experience and work-related skills.

4.2.7 Summary Whilst the first section explored the key role of having quality careers advice and guidance in enabling people to make the right options for the next stage in their working lives – albeit the beginning of their careers or re-starting, developing their careers, this section has considered the range of provision of education and training opportunities being delivered by a wide range of institutions and voluntary organisations. These can and do play a significant role in providing work-related skills and experience for young people, and also people who may be returning to study, or re-training.

Colleges can provide both mainstream vocational-type courses where there is a combination of learning and work-related activity, and also discrete provision in work-skills courses specifically tailored to people with learning difficulties/disabilities. However, there is little data available as to the success rates or destinations of disabled people in completing these programmes. Moreover as Ofsted (2011) pointed out a significant proportion of young people on the discrete programmes do not progress on to more meaningful options which could lead to sustainable employment. Work experience placements, as part of a college course, are another option which fits the evidence on the value of experience in securing employment, where the role of mentor and successfully engaging with employers are identified as key. Work experience can also be useful for older people who have acquired an impairment who are seeking a career change or to build confidence to return to employment.

Higher education institutions are seen to offer some experience in work placements, however, there are barriers in terms of the institutional culture as being seen as academically oriented rather than vocational. From the views of employers it would appear that there would be gains if the HEIs had a shift in culture in terms of the value of students acquiring employability skills. One of the key findings which came out of recent research is that of working more closely with employers, and including more work-related activities in the design of their courses.

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The development of employer ownership of skills ie incentivising employers to work with partners to develop pathways into skills and employment that meet employers’ needs may increasingly influence the shape of college and university programmes and this will mean that employer levels of disability confidence will become increasingly important.

Finally, opportunities for training and gaining work-related skills provided through either voluntary, charitable status organisations, specialist colleges or organisations led by disabled people (DPOs) can offer valuable options for specialist discrete provision, and with some success. These are predominantly specialised rather than mainstream, and therefore tend not to be widely available. The model supported by DPOs does support people through individualised support to work in any sector, any job.

The key factors that were identified as being of particular value in terms of the education and training provision approach include:

better links with the careers service for a more ‘joined-up’ transition approach;

better links with DPOs to become disability confident, to tap into the stories and peer networks of disabled people who have taken charge of their careers, and to link with individualised support that may be available;

develop a mentor role to support people on work-related placements;

better engagement with employers; this can include a variety of options including ‘try before you buy’ approach;

build partnerships with employers and invite them on to committees where they can offer input into strategic plans (particularly noted with HEIs);

invite employers to provide input into the design and delivery of academic and vocational courses;

ensure that there are structured approaches to placements, internships and work-based placements and embed and/or provide the options for these, where appropriate, in all subject areas.

4.3 Combined employment/study provision This section focuses on work skills development which is provided on a full-time basis using a combination of spending substantial time in the workplace alongside some form of learning which supports skills development in the workplace. It includes initiatives based on the supported employment model.

4.3.1 Supported internshipsProject SEARCH is a supported internship programme hosted by employers which aims to secure and retain full time employment for ‘interns’, or to ensure they leave the scheme ready for work and are better equipped to secure employment elsewhere. It was originally created in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in America in the mid-1990s to provide a transition to work for students with learning disabilities. The programme aims to combine real-life work experience with training in employability and independent living skills. Rutkowski et al (2006) suggest that the ‘hallmark of this demand-side model is complete immersion in the workplace. This facilitates a seamless integration

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of classroom instruction and on-the-job training and support that cannot be achieved with occasional workplace visits or simulated work environments’ (Rutkowski et al 2006: 85).

In 2009, the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) worked with the Valuing Employment Now team to support the delivery of Project SEARCH programmes for learners with learning disabilities in England. There were 14 projects formed with a partnership between a host employer, education provider and supported employment provider; 132 interns took part in the projects. The model was based on employer and customer engagement, vocational profiling of each intern, job matching and on the job support using systematic instruction. At the end of the project approximately one in three interns gained either full-time or part-time employment. An evaluation was conducted on behalf of ODI (Purvis, et al 2012) which identified the following success factors:

the need for an effective organisational partnership; the importance of effective communication and willingness of each partner to take on

responsibilities both shared and individual; the need for organisational ‘buy-in’ at senior level; a full-time classroom tutor; the use of training in systematic instruction for delivery staff; close engagement of interns’ families/carers and host employer staff; an early focus on job search for interns including the engagement of external employers

(Purvis et al, 2012: 7).

The benefits of the programme included providing interns an opportunity to undertake ‘real work’. It has now been adopted as a model by several employers, for instance GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), who have achieved a national profile through their involvement in this programme. However, Purvis et al noted that funding was an issue for providers as was providing on-going support for those who had completed the course.

The Department for Education introduced the trial of supported internships for young disabled people in September 2012 in 15 colleges across England (DfE-funded) which was part of the special education needs reforms as outlined in Support and Aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability: Progress and Next Steps (2012a). These internships offered young people aged 16-25 with a learning difficulty and/or disability a structured employment opportunity tailored to suit their individual circumstances and needs, whilst designed to equip them with appropriate employability skills. The interns were supported by a job coach in the workplace who provided tapered personalised support for both the employer and young person. The interns also undertook some form of learning in a college setting alongside the work placement. The overall aim of the programme was to develop the work skills of the interns and for the interns to achieve sustainable paid employment on completion of the programme.

Following the trial, all post-16 providers are able to offer supported internships to young people aged 16-25 with a SEN statement, Learning Difficulty Assessment or Education Health and Care plan from September 2013 as part of the new study programmes. They will be required to meet key principles of delivering a supported internship programme as set out by the Department. These are:

a significant majority of the participant’s time to be spent at the employer’s premises; and to comply with real job conditions; systematic instruction may be used to help interns with learning difficulties learn new tasks;

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interns to do some form of learning alongside their time at the employer which includes further study of English and maths to the appropriate level;

jobs must work for both the young person and the employer. For the young person they must fit with their vocational profile, contribute to their long term career goal. For the employer they must meet a real business need;

provision of support central for both young person and employer, can be provided by tutor or job coach.

The evaluation of the trial reported that 36 per cent had gained some form of paid employment which included apprenticeships as a result of taking part in the trial; key factors and lessons learned that the evaluation identified were:

supported internships need to be distinctive from other forms of college provision with a clear focus on achieving sustainable employment;

job coaches, with broad skill sets, are critical to the success of supported internships; to succeed, interns need to want to work and have families supportive of this ambition; personalised, tapered support is necessary during the internship with further support

available post-programme, as needed; on-going partnerships between employers, interns, college staff, and where appropriate,

parents and carers should underpin the programme; achieving an appropriate realistic job match for an intern is key to their success; college-based learning needs to be personalised, clearly linked to the workplace and to be

a source of peer group support; colleges need to plan from the outset how to secure employment for interns at the end of

the internship, especially for those who are not offered paid work by their internship employer (DfE, 2013b:14).

4.3.2 Supported employment with some form of learning There are other specific supported employment initiatives that include learning, for instance the Sustainable Hub for the Innovative Employment of Individuals with Complex Needs29 in South East England for people with complex needs, severe learning disabilities and challenging behaviour and people with learning disabilities and histories of mental health problems or offending behaviour. The aims of this project are to identify and support a range of employers to employ adults with learning disabilities and additional complex needs and to utilise existing employment support and pathways. The model includes a steering group comprising provider organisations, educational services, carers, policy makers and academics who meet on a regularly basis to discuss progress, barriers and solutions and lessons learned. They then feed back to the frontline staff – they consider a key benefit in that it provides support to these staff.

Gore et al (2013), conducted interviews with staff members of the Hub and found that participants welcomed the benefits of being part of a supportive network which provided practical support and guidance to support them until they reached employment but also emotional support and motivation for the staff who were supporting the disabled people which was sometimes quite challenging. This support was seen as essential in terms of keeping staff morale up and motivating

29 http://base-uk.org/sites/base-uk.org/files/[user-raw]/11-06/sustainable_hub_of_innovative_employment_for_people_with_c....pdf

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them to continue with their efforts to secure employment for the people they were supporting. Other factors which helped the success of the project were:

creativity of the staff in seeking out job opportunities; resilience of the staff and participants in dealing with knockbacks; positive attitude of everyone involved in the project; getting people on board including staff; continuous social support for the individual; networking with other provider organisations.

Gore et al (2013) noted the following as benefits of this type of project:

For the individual: positive self-identity, independence, empowerment and choice; enhancing community participation and social network development; reductions in stigma, overall increase in quality of life; gaining new skills.

For employer high levels of satisfaction with work completed; positive influence on team morale; increased understanding of disability.

The barriers which were highlighted by both steering group members and front line staff included:

time – slow process; limitations imposed by admin/bureaucracy and reliance on other agencies;

working with limited resources – within climate of recession; impact of paid work on benefits; engaging employers and the impact/disappointment for the individuals if not forthcoming.

In terms of outcomes, the people taking part had all made progress regarding employment with a small number in paid employment and others in voluntary or work experience placements. Broader outcomes included:

personal development; increased self-esteem; employment aspirations; ripple effect – change in the organisation and aspirations of others.

Grunke (2006) conducted an evaluation into the effectiveness of a supported employment approach in Germany using job coaches but also using two instructional programme interventions at the start of the programme. The interventions were designed to foster inductive reasoning and improving social competence and work behaviour for young people with severe learning difficulties. The method of the evaluation was to track the progress of one group who had experienced the inductive reasoning programme using another group of students as a control group; they also tracked a group who had taken part in the programme to improve social competence and work behaviour with another group acting as control group. The young people in the control groups did not take part in the supported employment trial or receive any assistance at all. Job coaches were trained and matched up with students in the two main groups – this was done after they had had

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the opportunity to meet and get to know each of the participating students in the supported programme. The process involved building relationships with the students; working with the students to assess their skills, and attributes and to find suitable opportunities for traineeships; and then tracking their progress against their identified goals. Grunke identified five ‘conditions’ for the programme to be successful which are:

continuous and individual support by someone that they know well and trust; early introduction to the world of employment in order for the young person to adapt early in

the programme; individual fostering of intellectual abilities; individual fostering of emotional stability; continuous monitoring of all endeavours.

The young people were tested before and after the intervention and their scores were found to be substantially higher following the interventions. Finally, their occupational destinations were reviewed three to four months after they had completed the programme. The results showed that 39 per cent had started an apprenticeship; six per cent had gone on to further education; and 37 per cent on a vocational course provided by the German Federal Office of Employment. These results were very positive compared to the usual rate where 90-95 per cent go on to vocational courses and less than ten per cent progress into apprenticeships or job roles in the open labour market.

4.3.3 Summary This third approach is one where the majority of time is spent in the workplace environment with some form of additional learning alongside. The main approach is designed in line with a supported employment-type approach. Supported employment and supported internships are approaches that have, in the past, been used for young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. They have been used in different settings and in different countries with some successful outcomes.

The key factors that were identified as being of particular value in terms of a combined employment/study based approach include:

the individual being able to be ‘immersed’ in the workplace, where the majority of time is spent at the employer;

effective employer engagement strategies and engaging employers early in the process (this can include promoting success stories of previous trainees/interns);

employers’ positive attitudes and willingness to become involved; this can be achieved by building a national profile to promote the approach;

choice by the learner of the job and learning they are going for, and rapid job/college search;

quality vocational profiling of the learner and job choices on the basis of strong information, to ensure that the job role meets the aspirations, career goals, skills and experience of the learner;

quality on the job support for both learner and employer; including job coaching where required;

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use of systematic instruction where appropriate;

effective partnerships between all partners in the process and effective communication;

engaging families/carers and other staff in the workplace in the process;

sufficient funding to provide quality support including ongoing support, where necessary, after the end of the training.

4.4 Employment-based provision This section discusses approaches where skills development is primarily based with the employer, and includes those approaches where an employee has experienced an impairment whilst in work.

4.4.1 ApprenticeshipsApprenticeships are an employment-based approach described by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) as ‘a real job with training so you can earn while you learn’30. They are currently available to all young people 16 and over in England, range in duration from between one and four years and include a wide range of job roles and industries such as engineering, agriculture, construction, ICT and leisure, travel and tourism. A wide range and level of qualifications can be achieved during the apprenticeship. Modern Apprenticeships are offered in Scotland, whilst there is an Apprenticeship programme in Wales where they also have a ‘Pathways to apprenticeships programme’ aimed at supporting young people in successfully being able to move on to an apprenticeship.

The Little Report (2012), which was commissioned to provide a review of the inclusion of disabled young people on apprenticeships, states that whilst the total number of apprenticeships has risen significantly between 2005/06 to 2010/11 (from 175000 to 442,700) in England, the proportion of young people engaged in apprenticeships declaring a learning difficulty and/or disability within the same period has fallen from 11.1 per cent to 8 per cent. Specific groups have shown a significant decrease, notably those with moderate learning difficulties and those declaring ‘other medical conditions’ e.g. epilepsy, asthma, diabetes. The report shows that success rates for apprentices with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are very positive although specific groups of learners have fared less well including those with mental health, emotional/behavioural difficulties, multiple learning difficulties and moderate learning difficulties. One of the key factors that was identified to ensure success was ‘on the job support’ in terms of job coaching but also mentoring.

One of the key issues which may have had an impact on the recruitment of young people with a disability is that of funding as this was restricted to covering the full costs of 16-18 year olds but only 50 per cent for the 19-24 year old cohort. A number of recommendations came out of the report to improve the opportunities and quality of experience within the Apprenticeships programme for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. These included reforming the funding methodology for additional support and for the full funding for 19-24 year olds’ apprenticeships, improving the self-declaration process and careful monitoring of the numbers of apprentices with a disability, including for particular groups.

NAS responded to the recommendations in the Little Report in its most recent Action Plan: Creating an inclusive apprenticeship offer for learners with learning difficulties or disabilities (August, 2012). A recent initiative, Diversity in Apprenticeships Pilots, has just been completed. 30 https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/courses/typesoflearning/Pages/apprenticeships.aspx

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The Pilots considered new ways to engage people from a range of underrepresented groups including young people with a learning difficulty and/or disability. The findings (Newton et al, 2012: 12), which helped to inform the NAS action plan, showed that a lack of awareness by employers and a lack of specialist and tailored provision were key barriers; some employers showed a lack of understanding in terms of recruiting apprentices from underrepresented groups with some tending to stereotype disabilities and health problems. Critical ‘what works’ factors included:

partnership/collaborative working between key agencies; securing employer commitment and addressing work place culture; specialised staff (role models, ambassadors and outreach); mentoring and support; parental engagement; promoting apprenticeships through role models and different media channels; equality training for employers, staff, careers advisers and community workers; targeted advertising, taster sessions and work trials. (Newton et al, 2012: 12)

Engaging employers was seen as problematic by several of the providers in the Pilot,

They found a common misperception amongst employers that people with disabilities would not be as productive as other staff and employers did not want to invest the time and resources in possible support they believed might be needed. (Newton et al, 2012: 67).

Apprenticeships are a positive pathway into employment for young people and people who acquire an impairment but there is further work to be done in incentivising and persuading employers to recruit people with a learning difficulty and/or disability. It will be important to evaluate and learn from the Government’s Disability Confident campaign31, which aims to encourage employers both to recruit disabled people and to encourage their supply chains to do so, building on good practice in some existing small and large employers.

One innovative policy included in the Zero project32 report 2013 is a policy introduced in Austria (through amending in 2003, the Austrian Vocational Training Act of 1969) to support young people including young people with disabilities to successfully move into the labour market. The Inclusive Apprenticeship model was to enable young people to undertake an apprenticeship in order to gain a vocational qualification and move into employment. The model is based primarily on company-based vocational training with tailored support provided by educational establishments, vocational training institutions and vocational schools, as required. The young people are offered the opportunity to undertake Inclusive Vocational Training (IBA) which can be either up to a year leading to a qualification or through a vocational training contract leading to a partial qualification. The IBA can be offered by companies or vocational training institutions, complemented by vocational schools. The apprentices attend classes in vocational schools, and additional support is provided. A key element of the IBA is the vocational training assistance which is provided by professionals to address problems, define the objectives and carry out the examinations. The data on outcomes suggests that of those participating approximately 20 per cent were young people

31 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions/employing-disabled-people-and-people-with-health-conditions

32 The Zero project, funded by the Essl Foundation and World Future Council, advocates the rights of persons with disabilities internationally. It provides platforms for sharing and developing models that improve the lives of disabled people; it has three key areas of activity: surveys using social and employment indicators innovative practices and innovative policies

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with disabilities; and that of graduates with inclusive company-based vocational training approximately 70 per cent were still employed after four years (Fembek et al, 2012).

4.4.2 Supported employment initiativesDickson and Taylor (2012) refer to two main approaches in supporting unemployed people with mental health issues into employment; the ‘train and place’ approach also known as pre-vocational training and ‘place and train’ approach which supports individuals to learn on the job. The place and train approach aims to find people employment placements where they are able to gain the experience and work skills required; this is also referred to as ‘individual placement and support’ or IPS. Several studies into its efficacy with people with mental health issues have been conducted including one by Burns et al (2007) which show that individuals were twice as likely to gain employment and work for longer when using this approach. The key barriers identified in terms of achieving employment for people with mental health issues are the low expectations of mental health workers, the loss of social security benefits; and the lack of knowledge of employers around mental health issues. The key benefits to this type of support were for participants having structure and purpose to the day; improved self-esteem and better social contacts (Dickson & Taylor, 2012: 15).

Rinaldi et al (2010) conducted a review of literature including qualitative studies to explore approaches to support people with first episode psychosis and employment. They found the most suitable approach to support people following a first episode of psychosis was a form of supported employment known as the IPS approach. This approach is based on the ‘place and train’ approach to vocational rehabilitation, referred to by Dickson and Taylor above, rather than the ‘train and place’ approach. Rinaldi et al identified seven evidence-based principles important in determining success in assisting people into work and to retain work:

competitive employment as the goal; job search occurs rapidly; eligibility is based on client choice; job choice follows client preference; support is ongoing and based on client need; vocational and mental health services are integrated; personalised welfare benefits counseling is provided (Rinaldi et al, 2010: 152).

A recent evaluation of 15 randomised controlled trials using IPS (Bond et al, 2012) found that 60 per cent of people with severe mental health issues recruited on to the IPS approach obtain competitive employment compared to 25 per cent of those on other types of vocational preparation. The rate of dropout was low which contrasted to earlier findings of a much higher dropout rate for other supported employment approaches (Bond, Drake & Mueser, 1997 cited in Bond et al, 2012). Burns et al (2007) found through a set of European randomised control trials that IPS significantly out-performed traditional ‘train-place’ vocational rehabilitation:

55 per cent gained employment in IPS vs. 28 per cent in traditional ‘train-place’ service; 13 per cent drop-out in IPS vs. 45 per cent in traditional service; 20 per cent re-admitted in IPS vs. 31 per cent in traditional service.

Ruggeri-Stevens et al (2007) conducted a study exploring the use of a supported employment model in a project in Sussex called ‘Learning to Work’ which was delivered by Breakaway Supported Employment Service. The project offered small business employers a set of approaches to help them to identify the training needs of an adult with a learning disability to

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support them into employment, specifically placements in small businesses or semi-independent units within larger chain organisations. The research study focused on the learning and training challenges involved in the model. The key factors that were taken into account when planning the learning and training programme were:

timescale (over what period of time can progress of the individual be studied); habilitation/rehabilitation (i.e. is this the individual’s first experience in work or is s/he

attempting to move back into employment);

coordination of different types of support.

The project helped adults with learning disabilities to find work, either voluntary or paid roles in ordinary integrated work environments using a one-to-one person-centred approach. In the workplace job coach support was provided to assist with more complex tasks for as long as needed. An Individual Learning Plan (ILP) was also used which includes progress on aspects of the person’s development such as punctuality, taking instructions, reliability as well as task-related skills although the study does not make clear if this was particularly effective.

Interviews were conducted with 12 of the 52 companies in which the service had secured employment for people with learning difficulties. Overall Ruggeri-Stevens et al report that the comments were very favourable; however there were some reservations about the ‘need for additional training time, and the (trainee’s) relative inflexibility in response to change of work routines’ (Stuggeri-Stevens, 2007: 745). The following are some of the ‘action points’ which came out of the interviews with employers which they suggest would improve the experiences of the trainees’ success in the workplace:

re-training and repetition of key learning points will help learning-impaired employees; mentoring by work colleagues or supervisors increases an employee’s confidence but it is

important to have continuity of the relationship;

unpredictability of work routines may influence the employee’s capacity to perform well on simple tasks;

having multiple supervisors may lead to problems with gaining rapport (Ruggeri-Stevens, 2007: 752).

There is also a small project in Austria ‘Carers for the Elderly’ (Zembek et al, 2012) involving the use of the job coach role working with young disabled people to train them to be a carer for older people in retirement or care homes. The project provides twelve months practical and theoretical instruction for the role of care assistant working with and caring for older people using job coach support. The young people are ‘assigned’ to a department for the first six months where they work closely with the job coaches learning the role and becoming more independent in the role. Following this the young people are then moved into another internship in another care home for a further six months after which they are assessed as prepared for employment in the open market. The outcome data since the start of the project (2002 – 2011) states that 59 young people have successfully completed the training and of these 38 have found employment in the open labour market.

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4.4.3 Pre-work provisionThe Work Choice programme includes the use of work placements and work trials to support disabled people into employment; this was seen as particularly useful for participants who had never been employed, or had not been in the workplace for many years. This work experience differs from that discussed in Section 4.2.2 in that it is not provided as part of a study programme package. Case studies from the evaluation of the programme indicated that the use of external placements was of value in supporting people into employment (DWP, 2013c). In one case study, a participant was offered a six-month paid traineeship while the participant gained experience of the job role, on the understanding that there would be a paid job at the end.

Work trials and ‘tasters’ were also used by a number of providers in place of the traditional job interview:

‘I do what I call work tasters which are usually for a day and that’s really just to give the person an idea of what the job is and also the employer… From there you organise a work trial. I try and keep work trials to less than two weeks.’ (Provider, Steady State Wave) (DWP, 2013: 121).

The work trials were regarded by some providers as a good way to replace the more traditional application processes, which they considered sometime disadvantage disabled applicants. The evaluation reported that these work trials were viewed positively:

‘Work trials is where an employer is not sure, they give them a go, like an extra interview … it means they get to show their skills in the workplace doing the job they’ve applied for and if they can do it then they might take them on.’ (DWP, 2013c: 121).

4.4.4 Use of subsidies and incentives There are several different kinds of schemes and initiatives being trialed in different countries, although there is little evidence of their success available to date. Two such examples which include a mainstream programme for young people in Latvia and a scheme in Malta33 both use financial assistance in the form of subsidies or incentives to encourage the recruitment of young people.

The scheme in Latvia ‘Workplace for young people’ is a government run scheme which provides opportunities for young people to be employed for a trial period of up to nine months to gain work experience but also to continue in permanent employment at the end of the trial. Although it is aimed at all young people priority is given to those who have been without employment for more than six months and also to young people who are disabled. The employment is based on a work contract with a monthly wage equivalent to or greater than the national minimum wage; the employer receives a subsidy to cover the costs of paying the young person but also towards the costs of a trainer. Funding is also available to cover any reasonable adjustments needed.

In Malta, there is the Employment Aid Programme (EAP) which started in 2009. Its aim is to support disadvantaged and disabled people into employment by offering wage subsidies to employers. There is little information about the scheme but recent data suggests that over 1000

33 http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/emcc/erm/studies/tn1109042s/tn1109042s.html

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young people aged 30 or under have benefited from the scheme and that 94 per cent of participants were retained in employment after their participation in the scheme.

4.4.5 Access to Work Access to Work (AtW) is a government programme aimed at assisting disabled people to move into and retain work; it provides the individual and the employer with advice and financial support for any extra costs or adjustments which may be required associated with employment. The types of support provided by AtW include: special aids and equipment; adaptations to premises and equipment; travel to work grants; support workers; and communicator support at interview. Any support from AtW is in addition to the reasonable adjustments that employers may make in line with the Equality Act 2010. The Access to Work programme has recently been extended to include young people on traineeships and supported internships which is a positive change in opening up opportunities to young people who otherwise may have been unable to participate, and is in line with the recommendations in the Sayce Review (2011).

An evaluation of AtW was conducted by Dewson et al (2009) using qualitative interviews with different groups of stakeholders including AtW customers, employers, AtW delivery and business staff, AtW assessment providers/contractors and staff from JCP including advisers and DEAs. The evaluation found that awareness of the scheme was low with both employers and Jobcentre Plus staff. However, the research found that customers and employers were happy overall with the level and quality of support provided. In addition, there were high levels of support for the AtW application process and high levels of satisfaction with the assessment process, Business Centres and staff. Interviewees both customers and employers spoke positively about the impacts of using AtW which included lower levels of absenteeism and sickness, increased well-being and productivity and improvements in staff retention. The Sayce review (2011) confirms the value of the Access to Work programme in financial returns as well as socially; it calls for the need to further develop and extend the programme:

For every £1 spent on Access to Work the Exchequer recoups £1.48, and the social return on investment is even higher. It is vital, popular and should be built upon through a new portal with peer support, that radically opens-up knowledge, drives-down costs and improves access including to people in SMEs, groups who are under-served, people needing support to retain their jobs, and people seeking a job or work placement (Sayce, 2011: 124).

Figures for Access to Work published in October 2013 show that numbers using the programme are beginning to rise, after a dip. However, Access to Work remains an under-used and under-publicised programme which can offer real support and open up opportunities for disabled people; its services need to be broadened to include all pathways into employment.

The Government has recently extended Access to Work support to a number of internships, supported internships and work experience programmes from 2012-13 which offers those disabled who require some additional support, equipment, travel assistance or communications support the opportunity for the first time to participate on equal terms to non-disabled people. The model enables the disabled person, with the employer, to identify support needed and to put it in place. It will be useful to evaluate whether disabled people’s participation in these ‘ways in’ to employment increases as a result, and what the impact is on employment opportunities.

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4.4.6 Career progression and retentionSayce (2010) conducted a study of disabled people who have been employed successfully, using a survey and interviews with disabled and non-disabled people and employment professionals. In terms of their success in being retained and making progress they identified the following as positive factors including strong support and being valued by your manager, having a mentor and/or role model and best management practice. Disabled people also spoke of having developed individual strategies where they were pro-active in terms of promoting cultural and organisational change. The report, does however, identify a lack of opportunities and career choice for disabled people preventing some from progressing and achieving which can be due to low expectations by some employers; and a fear of being open about an impairment, particularly amongst people with mental health conditions, which can make it difficult to ask for any support needed. Recruitment agencies can play a role in reversing this by promoting what is possible when working with clients and candidates.

Lloyds Banking Group organise Personal and Career Development Programmes designed to provide the tools and techniques to maximise career opportunities. They also offer an Access Disability Network which provides colleague support as well as a mentoring scheme. Their approach is based on the Business Disability Forum’s Business Disability Standard which provides a framework to ensure that disabled people are proactively considered and included across an entire organisation.

4.4.7 SummaryThere are several types of employment-based approaches which can meet the needs of disabled people, both young people, and adults who may be seeking to re-enter some form of employment. As has been shown, apprenticeships can be a successful way of training young people for specific job roles but are currently less so for disabled young people who are under-represented; especially for particular groups of learners such as those with mental health issues, emotional/behavioural difficulties, multiple learning difficulties and moderate learning difficulties. These young people still face barriers of discrimination with some employers demonstrating both a lack of understanding and awareness of the potential for recruiting disabled people. For some, stereotyping still exists which can be hard to break down. Another factor which was also highlighted was that of adequate funding to take on young people up to the age of 25 years but this has been revised following the recommendations in the NAS Action Plan (NAS, 2012).

Supported employment initiatives, adopting a ‘place and train’ approach, are identified as a successful way of supporting people with mental health issues and this could be developed more as this particular group do appear to fare less well than people with other impairments when returning to employment. This provides opportunities to learn whilst in the job role, with appropriate support, with a view to securing sustainable employment as an outcome.

The key factors that were identified as being of particular value in terms of the employment-based approaches include:

rapid job search based on the preferences of disabled people, with flexible support for both the individual and the employer;

partnership and collaborative approaches between key agencies which may include agencies supporting people with mental health issues and/or specific impairments;

engaging employers and securing their commitment including addressing workplace culture;

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specialist staff such as peer mentors, mentors, job support staff, outreach and role models;

quality on the job support and mentoring;

engagement of families/parents/carers;

promotion of these approaches to raise awareness, change attitudes and stereotyping and encourage employer participation and increase employers’ expectations and ‘disability confidence’;

equality training for employers, staff, career advisers and other involved staff;

targeted advertising, taster sessions and work experience/trials – which can be a good way of replacing the more traditional application processes which can disadvantage some disabled people;

counselling and advice on welfare benefits;

possible use of incentives and subsidies although would need to be carefully monitored and evaluated to ensure it was achieving success;

greater national awareness about the purpose of Access to Work including to employers (especially small employers), Jobcentre Plus staff and recruitment agencies; and proposals to promote and encourage its use with monitoring and evaluation;

broaden access to Access to Work so that it is offered to disabled people in all pathways into employment.

5. ConclusionThe review considered four different types of approaches to supporting disabled people in their efforts to gain valuable work-related skills and experience to assist them in securing suitable and appropriate training and employment to fully develop their careers.

From the evidence considered in the review the careers advice and guidance to support disabled people, both young people and adults is decidedly patchy across the UK. Although schools have a responsibility to deliver this service independently it appears that in many areas it is delivered in-house by staff with little or no training who provide inadequate and sometimes incorrect information. Although there is an obligation to meet with disabled young people on a face-to-face basis there is little evidence that the adviser is sufficiently knowledgeable and informed to provide the most appropriate advice. Engagement of employers and knowledge of the local labour market can be effective, but is not universal. Some young people, from disadvantaged backgrounds are also struggling with using the online and helpline services which further reduces their opportunities to gain relevant information and advice to support their futures and accessibility and digital inclusion are important for them.

Whilst there has been some positive feedback regarding the new National Careers Service, there does appear to be a lack of awareness of the service. In addition, the same issues experienced by users of the schools’ provision apply to the service i.e. issues with having the digital skills and knowledge to access the website and difficulties with the helpline. The service does have an obligation to provide face-to-face consultations with disabled people but it is not clear as to whether

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they are sufficiently skilled to provide the best quality advice. The National Careers Service website does not make clear any specific links to information or advice for people who may have a disability on its home page; although a search does bring up links such as ‘Studying with disabilities’ and ‘Return to Work after long-term sickness’. These provide general information on accessing education and training, information on Access to Work, and government programmes such as Work Choice, training schemes, and advice on benefits and legal advice.

The role of DEAs was considered to be of value although availability to have access to a DEA was limited and often only in place in large JCPs. There were also concerns about DEAs having relevant skills and experience to provide quality and relevant support and advice to disabled people, and they sometimes had to prioritise other duties including acting as gatekeepers to programmes and initiatives. Government work support programmes do offer opportunities for some disabled people to enter employment; however, it sometimes results in short-term placements or placements not suited to the individual’s career aspirations. There was positive feedback as to the usefulness of the advice, in particular they valued the one-to-one support, but also being able to work with other disabled people, build up peer support and further develop their interaction skills. These programmes appear to be least successful for people, who have experienced long-term health conditions, and there is evidence that this may in part be prompted by the incentives and targets that service providers and JCP personal advisers are given.

The second approach considered the range of provision of education and training opportunities being delivered by a wide range of institutions and voluntary organisations. These can and do play a significant role in providing work-related skills and experience for young people, and also people who may be returning to study, or re-training. Colleges can provide both mainstream vocational-type courses where there is a combination of learning and work-related activity, and also discrete provision in work-skills courses specifically tailored to people with learning difficulties/disabilities. However, there is little data available as to the success rates or destinations of disabled people in completing these programmes. Moreover as Ofsted (2011) point out a significant proportion of young people on the discrete programmes do not progress on to more meaningful options which could lead to sustainable employment. Work experience placements, as part of a college course, are another option where the role of mentor and successfully engaging with employers are identified as key.

Higher education institutions are seen to offer some experience in work placements, however, there are barriers in terms of the institutional culture as being seen as academically-oriented rather than vocational. From the views of employers it would appear that there would be gains if the HEIs had a shift in culture in terms of the value in students acquiring employability skills. One of the key findings which came out of the research is that of working more closely with employers, and including more work-related activities in the design of their courses.

The third approach is one where the majority of time is spent in the workplace environment with some form of additional learning alongside. The main approach is designed in line with a supported employment-type approach. Individual placement with support (IPS) for people with mental health problems and supported employment and supported internships, developed initially for people with learning disabilities, has shown successful outcomes. IPS doubles a person’s chance of securing employment as compared to traditional ‘train place’ models. These approaches have been used in different settings and in different countries with some successful outcomes (for instance, 60 per cent employment rates amongst people with serious mental health conditions, as compared to 15 per cent in Britain generally) (Bond, 2004). Supported employment for people with learning difficulties/disabilities is regarded as a useful approach where it can result

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in sustainable employment or further progression routes such as apprenticeships or other realistic training opportunities. However, there are concerns that where this does not result, it can have a negative effect on the young person, and concerns from some providers indicate a need for sufficient funding to provide ongoing ‘exit’ support. Another concern is that the young person may end up taking up another study course to avoid being NEET. This can also apply to the education and training approach above.

There are several types of employment-based approaches which can meet the needs of disabled people, both young people, and adults who may be seeking to re-enter some form of employment. As has been shown, apprenticeships can be a very successful way of training young people for specific job roles but are currently less so for disabled young people who are under-represented; especially for particular groups of learners such as those with mental health issues, emotional/behavioural difficulties, multiple learning difficulties and moderate learning difficulties. These young people still face barriers of discrimination with some employers demonstrating both a lack of understanding and awareness of the potential for recruiting disabled people. For some, stereotyping still exists which can be hard to break down. Another factor which was also highlighted was that of adequate funding to take on young people up to the age of 25 years but this has been revised following the recommendations in the NAS Action Plan.

Supported employment initiatives, adopting a ‘place and train’ approach, are identified as a successful way of supporting people with mental health issues and this could be developed more as this particular group do appear to fare less well than people with other impairments when returning to employment. This allows people to develop their skills and learn the job role with appropriate support with the end goal of securing sustainable employment.

The benefits of each type of approach can be broadly summarised across all four approaches in that, when successful, they can provide for the individual: increased well-being, self-esteem and self-worth; informed career choices and improved career trajectories including securing sustainable employment; the opportunity to acquire new and valuable work-related skills; increased independence; better social contacts; the ability to make plans for the future and having a proper structure to their day and their lives. There are also health benefits to improved employment opportunities.

For the employer, this includes taking on a valued and suitably trained employee to the workforce with many of the approaches allowing the employee to be trained up at no cost to the employer and with appropriate support. Other benefits include high levels of satisfaction with work completed; positive influence on team morale, increasing the diversity of the workforce which will also result in the staff and employer become more disability-aware. This in turn can have positive implications for a business especially if it is a customer-facing organisation.

The benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness and for the economy are likely to be evaluated in terms of reducing the need for welfare benefits and health and welfare services, reducing the need for large, specialised programmes, increasing productivity, and increasing the diversity of the workforce.

Several key factors emerged across all four approaches which are worthy of mention. These include finding positive and successful ways of engaging employers, often involving the need to change negative attitudes including tackling the stereotyping of disabled people. The increasing move towards ‘employer ownership of skills’ – with employers working together to identify skills needed and help shape programmes from apprenticeships to traineeships and work experience – could help to generate more ownership of this whole process. The level of disability confidence of employers may become increasingly important. There is also a need to raise awareness of the

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range of possible approaches that are available to employers to enable them to offer employment opportunities for disabled people which include people who may acquire an impairment. These approaches include supported employment-type options, taking on a disabled young person as an apprentice or intern and the use of Access to Work which appears to be under-promoted but yet offers options and appears to be highly regarded by those who have used or are using it.

Funding is another significant issue which can be problematic; it needs to be appropriate and sufficient and preferably not seen as a factor which can exclude, impede or act as an ‘incentive’ which works against the best interests of disabled people. Good quality advice and guidance, and appropriate support in the form of a mentor, job coach or other suitably qualified person are seen as key in enabling disabled people to make a positive transition into developing new skills to move into employment, re-training or rehabilitating into their existing workplace.

Finally, the role of Disabled People’s Organisations – DPOs – particularly in sharing ‘work inspiration’, providing peer support and peer mentoring and helping build disability confidence amongst employers and careers advisors has significant potential but as yet has been little evaluated.

The key critical factors across the four approaches are summarised below.

For provision of advice, guidance and support services:

appropriately trained independent advisers. For advisers who work with people with an acquired impairment, disability and/or health condition, to have knowledge both of the labour market/employer requirements, and of what disabled people can and do achieve (ie high expectations) and experience of effective vocational rehabilitation (see relevant sections for evidence on ‘individual placement with support’ with rapid job search as far more effective than traditional models of vocational rehabilitation). The Career Development Institute (CDI) can play a key role in this as they offer a professional qualification framework and training for career advisers; their Code of Ethics acknowledges the importance of promoting equality and diversity and supporting clients ‘to overcome barriers to personal achievement resulting from prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination’ (CDI, 2012: 1).

individualised and impartial face-to-face and one-to-one careers information and advice – including a sound basis of knowledge about what disabled people achieve, and ability to discuss an individual’s strengths, aptitude, interests, skills, qualifications and potential;

increased skills of employment advisers and/or the number of disability employment advisers to ensure there are appropriate staff to provide advice and guidance to disabled clients and to be able to liaise effectively with employers;

opportunities for participants to work together to build their interaction skills and have peer support;

further development and use of the role of peer support, mentoring and counselling by and for disabled people to provide information, advice, and support for entering employment and in terms of career progression;

online and helpline resources that are accessible to disabled people; information provided in a variety of formats both online and off-line. It is also important to raise awareness of the services on offer and have clear signposting to ensure that the information can be located and easily accessed;

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online services to be made user-friendly and to have a specific area to support people with disabilities including advice for those who newly acquire an impairment;

telephone helplines that are free to call (including from mobile phones) and user-friendly;

the services need to be regularly monitored and evaluated to assess that they are fulfilling their aims, including meeting the needs of disabled people;

ensure that incentives and targets of government programmes are not counter-productive in terms of assisting disabled people, particularly those that require the most support. Programmes need to be designed to incentivise behaviours that make sustainable employment more likely and realistic;

for some disabled people there is a need for more long-term sustained support on government initiatives which needs to be tailored to meet their needs.

For education and training provision:

better links with the careers service for a more ‘joined-up’ transition approach;

better links with DPOs to become disability confident, to tap into the stories and peer networks of disabled people who have taken charge of their careers, and to link with individualised support that may be available;

develop a mentor role to support people on work-related placements;

better engagement with employers; this can include a variety of options including ‘try before you buy’ approach;

build partnerships with employers and invite them on to committees where they can offer input into strategic plans (particularly noted with HEIs);

invite employers to provide input into the design and delivery of academic and vocational courses;

ensure that there are structured approaches to placements, internships and work-based placements and embed and/or provide the options for these, where appropriate, in all subject areas.

For employment/study based provision:

the individual being able to be ‘immersed’ in the workplace, where the majority of time is spent at the employer;

effective employer engagement strategies and engaging employers early in the process (this can include promoting success stories of previous trainees/interns);

employers’ positive attitudes and willingness to become involved; this can be achieved by building a national profile to promote the approach;

choice by the learner of the job and learning they are going for, and rapid job/college search;

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quality vocational profiling of the learner and job choices on the basis of strong information, to ensure that the job role meets the aspirations, career goals, skills and experience of the learner;

quality on the job support for both learner and employer; including job coaching where required;

use of systematic instruction where appropriate;

effective partnerships between all partners in the process and effective communication;

engaging families/carers and other staff in the workplace in the process;

sufficient funding to provide quality support including ongoing support, where necessary, after the end of the training.

For employment-based provision:

rapid job search based on the preferences of disabled people, with flexible support for both the individual and the employer;

partnership and collaborative approaches between key agencies which may include agencies supporting people with mental health issues and/or specific impairments;

engaging employers and securing their commitment including addressing workplace culture;

specialist staff such as peer mentors, mentors, job support staff, outreach and role models;

quality on the job support and mentoring;

engagement of families/parents/carers;

promotion of these approaches to raise awareness, change attitudes and stereotyping and encourage employer participation and increase employers’ expectations and ‘disability confidence’;

equality training for employers, staff, career advisers and other involved staff;

targeted advertising, taster sessions and work experience/trials – which can be a good way of replacing the more traditional application processes which can disadvantage some disabled people;

counselling and advice on welfare benefits;

possible use of incentives and subsidies although would need to be carefully monitored and evaluated to ensure it was achieving success;

greater national awareness about the purpose of Access to Work including to employers (especially small employers), Jobcentre Plus staff and recruitment agencies; and proposals to promote and encourage its use with monitoring and evaluation;

broaden access to Access to Work so that it is offered to disabled people in all pathways into employment.

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