Response
Response to the Learning Disability employment strategy: Valuing Employment Now
25th June 2009
We warmly welcome the publication of Valuing Employment Now, the cross-government learning disability employment strategy.
We particularly welcome the ambitious target of increasing employment levels to those of other disabled people by 2025, which implies an almost 5 fold increase in the proportion of people with a learning disability in work. We very much hope that this will be the start of much greater priority being given to employment across agencies working with people with learning disabilities.
From our experience of working with people with learning disabilities we know employment can make an enormous contribution to people's quality of life and social inclusion, as well as having financial benefits.
Implementation of the strategy will be the key challenge. The Department of Work and Pension is to be congratulated on its commitment to offering 400 employment opportunities with Job Centre Plus and other DWP offices over the next 2 years. Whilst local partnership boards and education providers are clearly important to have on board, they generally lack the relevant contacts with employers and the experience of what employers are looking for to get people into jobs. We would like to see Job Centre Plus as the national employment advice and support agency having a central role in working across local agencies and with local employers.
The transfer of resources from the Learning and Skills Council to local authorities offers a real opportunity for councils to invest in the kinds of employment support which are known to be effective - for example the "place and train" supported employment model.
The experience of North Lanarkshire also indicates that transferring money from daycentres into employment support can be cost-effective as well as life changing for individuals. It is also vital that the opportunity to receive high quality support to enter work is offered to everyone with a learning disability, not just those who are known to social services.
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For more information please contact Sarah Bartlett or Jaime Gill in the United Response Press Office on020 8246 5237/ 020 8246 5122 or emailsarah.bartlett@unitedresponse.org.uk or jaime.gill@unitedresponse.org.uk
Notes to editors
United Response is a top 100 charity operating in England and Wales, providing a range of support and services for more than 1,500 people with learning disabilities, mental health needs or physical disabilities. We employ over 2,000 people across the organisation and have won many awards for our pioneering work since being founded in 1973.
Our mission is to enable people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities to take control of their lives.
Our vision is a society where disabled people are equal participants and have access to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
The services we provide depend on each person we work with. We can provide 24-hour support for people with profound physical needs, or just a few hours for those who need less support to live their lives. We can job coach someone into meaningful paid employment. We can provide outreach support for someone with a mental health need or help people who find it difficult to communicate by making information more accessible. The key to our success is that we work with each person to do the things they want to do, supporting them to communicate what they want and tell us how we are doing.
In support of our vision, we also campaign to improve the lives of people with disabilities in society. This may mean lobbying decision makers such as MPs to ensure that people’s voices are heard or it might mean working directly with disabled people so that they can be more directly engaged in the democratic process. We also work with employers to ensure that more people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities get a fair opportunity to work.
In 2008 alone, we were shortlisted as best employer in the Third Sector Excellence Awards and highly commended for our Annual Report. We also won a highly prestigious National Training Award for the investment we make in our staff.