Impacts on training and employment

Kate Storrow

Chair

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Background

• SUSE formed in 1995 to promote supported employment

• 50 members Scotland wide• Supported Employment is the

employability approach evidenced to be best practice in supporting disabled people into sustainable employment.

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Membership

• Members include local authorities who still provide supported employment services

• Small local employment organisations such as IntoWork, Forth Sector, Employment Shetland

• Larger national employability services such as Enable, SAMH, Capability Scotland, RNIB Scotland

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

What is supported employment?

• Supported Employment promotes the rights of all individuals to achieve their full potential through a model of flexible support that enables people to overcome barriers to their employability and access real jobs for real pay.

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Five Stage Approach

• The 5 stage approach to supported employment

The approach outlined in the Supported

Employment Framework for Scotland 2010,

where individuals are provided with

personalised support through the five stages

of:

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Supported Employment

• Engagement; • vocational profiling; • job finding; • employer engagement; • and ongoing support in work (or aftercare).

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Framework

• Supported Employment is guided by the three main principles:

• the job should be in an integrated work place;

• the jobholder is paid the rate for the job; and

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Framework

• all individuals have the right to end their reliance on welfare benefits, i.e. reduce poverty.

• Scotland has an agreed published framework targeting jobs for disabled people (Unique?)

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Pre Smith situation

• National UK programmes: DWP• National Scotland Programmes: Scot Gov• Local initiatives and frameworks

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Pre-Smith: National UK Programmes

• Work Programme: 480 blind people on programme in Year 1 with zero jobs

• Work Choice: 45 per cent success rate• Access to Work: 'Government's Best Kept

Secret'

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Pre-Smith: National Scotland programmes

• Local partnerships CCP or CHCP• Defined employability pipelines - services

fit into a pipeline SG or LA• Personal budget implementation and how

employability fits into this• Youth initiatives with a 0.2 per cent

participation rate by disabled people

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Pre-Smith: National Scotland programmes

• Employability Fund• Youth Employment Scotland• Employer's related Initiative• Community Jobs Scotland• ESF• Local initiatives: Commonwealth Fund• Impact of the Wood Commission report

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Smith:

• Support for unemployed people through employment programmes (Work Choice/Programme)

• Deciding how they operate; prime contractor, local model, national model, follow pipeline or specific stages

• Personal budgets

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Legislative Competence

• Employment schemes for long term unemployed and to helps people with disabilities into work

• Youth employment• Design of new programmes that must last

for 1 year minimum

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Jobcentre Plus

• Scotland programmes have to 'fit in' within a UK wide system and not cost more

• Referral between national UK and Scotland programmes (currently virtually impossible)

• Can devise similar programmes as UK Government so we could have Scottish Work Programme, Work Choice

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Issues

• Procurement decisions: prime contractor, national, local priorities and what impact that will have on existing providers.

• Change management : WC contracts end in October 2015

• Delays in implementation of ESF

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Issues

• Lack of information about future• Role of national organisation versus local

organisations (incidence of disability)• Lack of representation within existing

programmes (MA's) doesn't inspire confidence

• How much freedom with SG have to deliver something 'new'

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Future

• National organisations - what will their role be?

• Local authorities - do they want to provide specialist services for disabled people? Not if the reduction in supported employment in Scotland by LA's is a blueprint.

• Watch this space!Scottish Union of Supported Employment

Scottish reg. charity no. SCO27649

Thanks

• www.susescotland.co.uk• kate.storrow@rnib.org.uk

Scottish Union of Supported EmploymentScottish reg. charity no. SCO27649