DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
About Shaw Trust

Shaw Trust is a leading national charity with a thirty year history of supporting
disabled, disadvantaged and long term unemployed people to achieve sustainable
employment, independence and social inclusion. Last year Shaw Trust delivered
specialist services to over 50,000 people from 200 locations across the UK,
supporting its beneficiaries to enter work and lead independent lives. In 2012 Shaw
Trust merged with fellow employment services charity Careers Development Group
(CDG).

Shaw Trust has extensive experience of supporting people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments into sustainable and meaningful employment. As the
largest contracted out prime provider of the Department for Work and Pensions’
(DWP) specialist disability employment programme, Work Choice, Shaw Trust has
supported over 14,000 people with severe disabilities into employment since the
contract’s inception in 2010. Shaw Trust delivers Work Choice nationwide via 16
prime contracts, six subcontracts and an additional prime contract through the jointly
owned organisation CDG-WISE Ability. We also deliver specialist support and
stepping stone employment opportunities for people with disabilities, heath problems
and impairments through a number of charitable projects, retail shops and social
enterprises, such as our supported business – Shaw Trust Industries – in Doncaster.

Shaw Trust is additionally one of only two voluntary sector prime contractors of the
Work Programme, operating in the London East contract package area (as Shaw
Trust CDG), as well as a subcontractor in seven additional contract package areas.
Shaw Trust also delivers direct contracts for the Skills Funding Agency.

In 2013, Shaw Trust launched ‘Making Work a Real Choice’, a series of reports
examining the future of specialist disability employment support in the UK.1 The
reports were shaped by extensive consultation with 539 disabled people, Work
Choice delivery staff, stakeholders and employers. The final report, published in
October 2013, highlighted the crucial importance of retaining and enhancing a
separate specialist disability employment programme to increase employment
opportunities for disabled people.

Shaw Trust’s comprehensive frontline experience of delivering national and local
projects supporting people with disabilities, health problems and impairments into
work, combined with our in-depth research into the future of specialist disability
employment support means the charity is ideally placed to respond to DWP’s
Disability and Health Employment Strategy (DHES).
1
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice, where next for specialist disability employment support, final report.
Available at: http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/support-us/policy-and-research/making-work-a-real-choice-where-next-forspecialist-disability-employment-support/. The preceding interim report and consultation is available at: http://www.shawtrust.org.uk/support-us/policy-and-research/making-work-a-real-choice-report-and-consultation/
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
Summary
Shaw Trust supports the DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy (DHES) and
welcomes its central proposal to retain and enhance a specialist disability
employment programme. This was a key recommendation from our 2013 research and
report, ‘Making Work a Real Choice’.2
However, the DHES represents only a starting point for the actions needed to support
more disabled people who are able to work into employment. Drawing on the points raised
throughout this response, Shaw Trust makes the following ten recommendations to inform
DWP’s final DHES and delivery plan:
1. Elements contributing to the success of DWP’s existing specialist disability
employment provision should be maintained and enhanced rather than lost in the
design of the new system.
2. The expansion of choice and control should ensure that consistent national
support remains in place for those less comfortable with assuming control of their
own provision.
3. A national specialist programme of employment support should be maintained to
avoid creating a ‘postcode lottery’ disadvantaging areas with limited provision.
4. The proposed ‘gateway’ assessment tool should be applied to all DWP customers
and made sufficiently robust through clear eligibility criteria and data analytics,
whilst funding models for future programmes should include sufficient service fees
and the consideration of distance travelled payments.
5. DWP should clarify its intentions for the allocation of its £350 million disability
employment support budget for 2015/16, and consider evidence that expanded
provision will be required to improve outcomes.
6. Funding for Protected Places should be extended to provide valuable
employment opportunities and promote new innovative approaches for those severe
barriers.
7. DWP’s new ‘mainstream offer’ should be designed in close tandem with the
specialist offer, to ensure maximum flexibility and avoid policy inconsistencies.
8. DWP should commit to concrete steps to improve systemic support for young
disabled people through early intervention and joined up, multi-agency working –
supporting young people from school into further education, training or employment
rather than benefits.
2
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice: final report, available at: http://www.shawtrust.org.uk/support-us/policy-and-research/making-work-a-real-choice-where-next-for-specialist-disabilityemployment-support/
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
9. DWP’s employer engagement should focus more clearly on promoting accessible
recruitment practices and providing a greater level of systemic support to
employers.
10. DWP should take further steps to build its evidence base, including encouraging
providers to collect more data and establishing a best practice sharing portal.
The Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Our Response
Introduction
Shaw Trust supports the DWP Disability and Health Employment Strategy (DHES) and
welcomes the advent of a specific strategy focusing on the future of employability support
for people with Disabilities, health problems and impairments.
In particular, Shaw Trust welcomes the strategy’s commitment to maintaining a
separate specialist disability employment programme. This will ensure that disabled
people in all corners of the UK continue to receive the personalised and tailored support
they need to enter or re-enter sustained employment. The need to continue funding and
enhance a separate specialist disability employment offer was a key recommendation from
Shaw Trust’s 2013 ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ research into the future of employment
support for disabled people, based on consultation with 539 disabled people, Work Choice
delivery staff, other stakeholders and employers.3
However, there are a number of areas for which Shaw Trust would like to make additional
recommendations for DWP to consider through its continued development of the DHES.
These are outlined in the following sections responding to a number of the Strategy’s key
themes, as follows:








Section One: Gateway and assessment
Section Two: Payment by results and funding structures
Section Three: The Specialist Offer
Section Four: The Mainstream Offer
Section Five: Support for young people
Section Six: Support for employers
Section Seven: Best practice and continuous improvement
Conclusion and key recommendations
3
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice: final report, available at: http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/support-us/policyand-research/making-work-a-real-choice-where-next-for-specialist-disability-employment-support/
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
Section One: Gateway and assessment
1.1. DWP’s commitment to introducing a new ‘gateway’ upfront assessment for
people with Disabilities, health problems and impairments is a welcome step in
the right direction. However, to ensure the right individuals receive the right
support at the right time, a robust assessment tool should be implemented for
all DWP customers.
1.2. Shaw Trust strongly believes that a robust upfront assessment of an individual’s
employment history, job goals and barriers to employment is the crucial missing piece
of the jigsaw of employment services provision in the UK. Without an upfront
assessment of needs and barriers at the point of an individual’s benefit claim, it is
difficult for Jobcentre Plus (JCP) to ensure that individuals get the right support at
the right time on their journey back into employment.
1.3. Introducing such an assessment was a key recommendation from Shaw Trust’s
‘Making Work a Real Choice’ research considering the future of specialist disability
employment support, and Shaw Trust’s joint report with ACEVO – ‘Refinement not
Reinvention’ –on the next steps for the Work Programme.4
1.4. The need for an upfront assessment is especially crucial when considering who should
be eligible to access specialist disability employment support. This is made clear by
issues with referrals within the current system. Work Choice, the Government’s
specialist disability employment programme, is aimed at individuals with a moderate to
severe disability who are considered to be disabled under the Equality Act 2010.5
However, despite targeting individuals with health problems, just 15 per cent of Work
Choice customers claim an out of work sickness benefit such as Employment Support
Allowance.6
1.5. Similarly, Work Choice delivery staff and other stakeholders responding to the ‘Making
Work a Real Choice’ consultation reported that the current referral eligibility criteria
are unclear for Work Choice, Work Programme and Residential Training Colleges.
Providers reported regularly receiving unsuitable referrals to each of these
programmes. A common theme from respondents was that some individuals on Work
Programme with severe disabilities, health problems and impairments could have
been better supported on Work Choice, but were not referred to this more specialist
programme of support.
1.6. Shaw Trust therefore welcomes the DHES’s commitment to introducing a new
‘gateway’ to employment services involving an upfront assessment for people with
4
ACEVO and Shaw Trust, Refinement or Reinvention? The future of the Work Programme and the role of the voluntary
sector. Available at: http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/support-us/policy-and-research/refinement-or-reinvention-the-future-ofthe-work-programme-and-the-role-of-the-voluntary-sector/
5 DWP, Work Choice Provider Guidance, Chapter One
6 Taken from the February 2014 official Work Choice statistics published by DWP:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277235/work-choice-statistics-feb-2014.pdf
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
disabilities, health problems and impairments. This is a step in the right direction for
ensuring the right people get the right support at the right time.
1.7. However, more than a “light touch” 7 approach to the assessment process is needed.
A robust upfront assessment tool that uses evidence-based data on barriers to
employment should be implemented for all DWP customers, not just those
accessing specialist disability employment support. Given challenges inherent in
the current system as outlined above, a robust tool applied to all customers is crucial if
the gateway is to be effective at supporting the right people to access the right support
at the right time.
1.8. To achieve this, DWP should utilise international best practice from countries using
assessment tools to segment their benefit claimant caseloads based on their barriers
to work. The widely cited Jobseekers Classification Instrument from Australia uses
data collected on job entry rates from a range of demographic and socio-economic
characteristics to assess the impact of each individual’s needs and barriers on their
likelihood of entering employment. Individuals are then segmented into different
payment groups according to the level of need, with individuals with disabilities, health
problems and impairments directed to Australia’s specialist disability employment
programme.
1.9. Without the use of robust data analytics, there is a risk that the gateway will not always
accurately identify which customers need the support of a specialist disability
employment programme, and which customers would benefit from the mainstream
offer. Shaw Trust and our experienced team of advisers would welcome the
opportunity to work with DWP to develop and pilot this more in-depth
assessment tool further.
1.10. Finally, ensuring that assessment processes and referrals are conducted by
appropriately trained staff with good understanding of clear eligibility criteria will also
be vital. At present, anecdotal evidence suggests that reductions in the availability of
Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) at some Jobcentres is contributing towards
inappropriate referrals to mainstream programmes and delaying the point at which
many individuals with disabilities, health problems and impairments receive necessary
specialist employment support.
1.11. In Shaw Trust’s experience, there is also a lack of awareness amongst jobseekers
with disabilities, health problems and impairments about available programmes of
support, particularly Work Choice. For example, there is no literature currently
available for Disability Employment Advisers at Jobcentres to give to potential
participants explaining Work Choice or other available employment support. As such
Shaw Trust is currently in the process of producing a one-page leaflet that could be
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DWP (2013), Disability and Health Employment Strategy: the discussion so far
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
used in Jobcentres for this purpose, with necessary DWP support. We would be happy
to work with DWP on producing similar literature on a larger scale in the future.
Section Two: Payment by results and funding structures
2.1. Ensuring appropriate funding is targeted at individuals based on their needs
should be a central feature of any system of support for individuals with
Disabilities, health problems and impairments. A robust assessment process,
higher service fees for those in need of intensive specialist support and a payment
model incorporating distance travelled milestones will also ensure more people are
supported into work.
2.2. If payment by results contracting is to be used in a future specialist disability
employment programme – or any future back to work programme – then it is essential
that differential funding is used more effectively targeted than at present, for which a
new robust upfront assessment tool will form a crucial part.
2.3. Our experience from delivering the Work Programme suggests that aligning funding to
benefit type is a poor proxy for the barriers that customers on the Work Programme
face. Consequently, funding is not sufficient for some payment groups to invest in the
support needed to support customers into sustained work. For example, 30 per cent of
customers attached on the Work Programme in London East have declared that they
have a disability, yet only 15 per cent of customers claim ESA.8 This suggests that a
sizeable proportion of JSA customers in London East have a health condition or
disability. Yet the total funding for Payment Groups 1 and 2 on the Work Programme is
the lowest of all nine payment groups, as customers in these payment groups are
perceived to have the least challenging barriers to work.
2.4. Instead, by using comprehensive data collected from a robust assessment tool, the
right level of funding could be assigned to each individual based on their intensity of
need. This would ensure that providers are able to sufficiently invest their resources
into helping every customer to secure work, and ultimately ensure that more
customers with disabilities, health problems and impairments are able to enter and
sustain employment.
2.5. DWP should also consider retaining a higher level of service fee for a future
specialist disability employment programme. Shaw Trust has direct experience of
delivering both Work Choice and Work Programme, often alongside each other in
many centres. Our experience highlights that the 70 per cent service fee paid upfront
for Work Choice enables Shaw Trust to invest more significantly in staffing and
bespoke interventions to support Work Choice customers into work, which has led to a
demonstrable difference in performance between Work Programme and Work
8
Statistic gained from using attachments data up to December 2013 on the Work Programme accessed via DWP Tabtool:
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
Choice. Although limits on the data produced means that direct comparisons are
imperfect, 33% of all Work Choice participants who started provision between July
2011 and June 2012 subsequently entered employment, 9 compared to a job start rate
of 15% amongst ESA customers starting on the Work Programme in the same
period.10 In addition, Work Choice performance is equally strong amongst ESA and
JSA customers.
2.6. A future specialist disability employment programme should also use a distance
travelled payment model. This was a key recommendation voiced by respondents to
Shaw Trust’s ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ consultation. Some customers with severe
Disabilities, health problems and impairments have a long journey back into
employment. The achievement of key milestones, such as undertaking a work trial,
often represent a significant step forward for these individuals. Under the six month
timescale of Work Choice (with a possible six month extension), securing employment
is not feasible for some – yet significant progress in terms of employability is often
made with these customers’ for no reward through the payment by results structure.
Respondents to our consultation felt that achieving distance travelled milestones
should be rewarded financially, and that such a system would ensure providers gave
the most comprehensive level of support to every customer on the programme.
Distance travelled milestones could also be used to incentivise in-work progression, or
progression from supported to unsupported employment.
2.7. DWP should clarify how the £350 million allocated to specialist disability support
in 2015/6 will be spent, and what the Government’s plans are for the continued
investment in specialist disability employment support. Clarification should include
whether the allocated budget cover existing services like Access to Work and Work
Choice as well as new services and support from JCP, or whether it is specifically
allocated to the specialist offer.
2.8. Secondly, the reference to managing “finite resources” in the DHES suggests that
future funding for specialist support could be reduced. This is of particular concern
given that countries such as Denmark and Sweden that spend more on Active Labour
Market Policies for Disabled People have higher employment rates for chronically sick
and disabled people than countries whose spending is lower, such as the UK and
Canada. This point was highlighted in DWP’s recent ‘What works for whom in helping
disabled people into work?’ research paper.11
9
Work Choice official statistics (February 2014). Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277235/work-choice-statistics-feb-2014.pdf
10 Latest job start data from ERSA, Work Programme Performance (March 2014), p.10, available at:
http://ersa.org.uk/documents/work-programme-performance-report-march-2014. Referral figures for calculations derived
from ERSA, Work Programme Performance (September 2013), p.10, available at: http://ersa.org.uk/documents/workprogramme-performance-report-2013-quarter-2
11 DWP (2013), What works for whom in helping disabled people into work?
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
2.9. The UK, for example, spends twenty times more on out of work benefits for disabled
people than on employment support.12 If DWP is to help more of the 6.4 million
people with disabilities, health problems and impairments who are out of work
to realise their “employment aspirations”13 then more funding and wider access
to employment support for disabled people is needed – not less. DWP’s current
specialist disability employment programme, Work Choice, is showing strong
performance, but to date has been funded to support only 64,22014 of the 6.4 million
people with disabilities, health problems and impairments to prepare for, enter and
sustain employment.
2.10. DWP’s suggestion to concentrate funding on helping those “closer to the labour
market” is also of particular concern. Such an approach would not, in our view,
represent how to “spend taxpayers’ money most effectively”, 15 as it would deny
specialist support to individuals most likely to remain on benefits without greater
assistance, bringing higher costs in the long term. This would also appear to contradict
the principles behind other programmes such as the Work Programme, for which the
funding model was specifically designed to prevent external providers delivering
support only to those closest to the labour market. It further contrasts with the stated
purpose of the Gateway proposed in the DHES, of identifying and tailoring support
around the severity of customers’ barriers to work.
2.11. Shaw Trust strongly believes that every person with a disability, health problem or
impairment that wants to work, and can work, should be given the opportunity
to do so. We urge DWP to carefully consider its principles for managing finite
resources to ensure that opportunities to work are provided to every single person that
is able to.
Section Three: The Specialist Offer
3.1. Shaw Trust welcomes DWP’s commitment through the DHES to not only retain
specialist disability employment programme, but to enhance the offer of specialist
support. The need to build on and enhance existing programmes – to ensure that best
practice and the strengths of the existing Work Choice model are retained – was a key
recommendation from Shaw Trust’s final ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ report.
3.2. However, in light of DWP’s outline proposals and although there are areas where
existing provision could be improved, it is imperative that the elements of Work
Choice that contribute to its strong performance – with 44 per cent of the latest
cohort in 2013/14 entering employment – are not lost during any forthcoming
12
Sayce, L (2011), Getting in, staying in and getting on: disability employment support fit for the future
DWP (2013) The disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far?
14 Taken from the February 2014 official Work Choice statistics published by DWP:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277235/work-choice-statistics-feb-2014.pdf
15 DWP (2013) The disability and health employment strategy: the discussion so far? Page 39
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
tender process. These include joined-up pre-work, job brokerage and in-work
support; a substantial service fee element to fund intensive interventions early on; and
voluntary participation to achieve customer buy-in.
3.3. Elements for enhancement should include extending pre-work support to longer than
six months to improve access for those with more severe barriers to work (especially
considering Work Programme provides two years of support). These and other
recommendations are detailed in Shaw Trust’s 2013 ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ final
report.
3.4. Proven models such as Supported Employment, as cited in the DHES, also mirror
much of the existing Work Choice delivery model. This similarity could facilitate the
easy transfer of best practice approaches between the existing programme and future
programmes of specialist support.
3.5. Shaw Trust also urges DWP to clarify what will happen to specialist disability
employment support once Work Choice ends in October 2015. The DHES states that
the new specialist offer is due to commence in 2016. Disabled people should not
experience a gap in the employment services they receive in the transition from
Work Choice to any future specialist model. Continuity of service and a smooth
transition to new provision are crucial if we are to make progress towards raising the
employment rate of people with disabilities, health problems and impairments.
Personalising services
3.6. Shaw Trust supports DWP’s focus on the greater personalisation of back to work
support for disabled people. People with disabilities, health problems and impairments
should be active partners of providers, DWP and other stakeholders, helping to shape
services that are responsive and tailored to the needs of the individual. Shaw Trust
would welcome the opportunity to work closely with DWP to pilot new approaches to
personalisation.
3.7. However, if we are to give people with disabilities, health problems and impairments
true ‘choice’ over the back to work services they receive, we also have to ensure that
people have the option not to choose their own support. Whilst more choice and
control may bring benefits for some, there are also many for whom it may not be
appropriate.
3.8. In Shaw Trust’s ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ interim report, we surveyed Work Choice
customers to gain their views on a move towards accessing employment support via
their own personal budget. Just 28 per cent of those surveyed stated that they
wanted more choice and control over their back to work support. Many felt that
having to choose services would create additional anxiety; that they did not have the
knowledge to make an informed choice over their back to work support; and that they
would be pressured by providers for financial reasons. Also, some customers reported
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
being very satisfied with Work Choice, as it offered a central point of employment
advice and support to them.
3.9. Although greater personalisation and choice could offer benefits to many
individuals, any future specialist disability employment programme should also
ensure those who are uncomfortable making a choice are provided with
comprehensive advice, guidance and support.
The national network of specialist advisers
3.10. Both the official Work Choice evaluation16 and Shaw Trust’s ‘Making Work a Real
Choice’ research highlighted the crucial role that advisors have in supporting
individuals with disabilities, health problems and impairments to achieve and sustain
their employment goals. Shaw Trust therefore welcomes DWP’s proposals to put a
national network of specialist advisors at the heart of any future specialist disability
employment programme. It is the rapport and trust built between advisors and
customers on Work Choice that drives the achievement of employment outcomes, and
helps customers to remain in work once a job is secured.
3.11. However, DWP should clarify whether the network of specialist advisors will deliver all
of the services identified, such as pre-employment support, job brokering and in-work
support, or whether they will case manage the customer’s journey back to work and
direct customers to different organisations delivering these services.
3.12. Before Work Choice, pre-employment support and job brokerage and in-work support
were separated out into two different DWP programmes: Work Preparation and
WORKSTEP. A 2006 DWP research report into Work Preparation and WORKSTEP
recommended that these strands should be “rationalised”17 and merged into one joint
modular programme. This programme rationalisation was suggested to not only avoid
delivery duplication, thereby offering taxpayers’ better value for money, but to deliver
more joined up support. Shaw Trust’s experience of delivering both Work Choice and
its predecessor programmes suggests that joining up these elements of back to work
support offers customers a higher quality and more streamlined package of support,
and enables advisors to continue to support both the customer and employer once in
work. The benefits of delivering a joined up and continuous package of tailored
support should be therefore retained in any future specialist disability
programme.
3.13. It is positive that DWP has identified the important need to increase the integration of
specialist disability employment with support with a range of local support services
such as Adult Social care, primary and secondary health services and support
16
Purvis et al (2013), Evaluation of the Work Choice specialist disability employment programme: Findings from the 2011
Early Implementation and 2012 Steady State Waves of the research, DWP Research Report No.846
17 Purvis, A, Lowrey, J, and Dobbs, L, (2006), WORKSTEP: evaluation and case studies. Exploring the design, delivery
and performance of the WORKSTEP programme, DWP Research Report 348,
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
provided by local services. Due to the cross cutting nature of the barriers to work
which people with disabilities, health problems and impairments face, it is
imperative that a multi-agency approach both across central government and at
a local level is adopted. The joint commissioning of services by DWP and Local
Authorities, for example, could help to drive this greater level of local integration.
3.14. Joined up local support is particularly crucial for individuals experiencing primary or
secondary mental health conditions. Shaw Trust therefore welcomes the DHES’s
proposals to adopt a holistic approach to supporting individuals with mental health
problems, including a commitment for JCP to work jointly with local mental health and
employment services. Shaw Trust has already adopted this approach for our Work
Programme delivery in London East, where we work collaboratively with Newham
IAPT to increase access to counselling and support for customers presenting
prevalent mental health problems on the Work Programme. Shaw Trust would
welcome additional opportunities to pilot with DWP and local stakeholders supportive
and collaborative local approaches to delivering employment support for people with
mental health problems – such as piloting approaches to delivering the Individual
Placement and Support Programme – to test the efficacy of a holistic multi-agency
approach to delivering employment support.
3.15. Alongside the need for greater local integration, it is also important to
acknowledge the need to continue some form of national specialist employment
programme. National programmes offer both breadth and depth of service coverage,
ensuring that employment support is available consistently throughout the UK. There
are many areas of the UK where specialist disability employment provision is not
evident outside of Work Choice, and for which a “menu” of provision would not be
possible to create, as suggested in the DHES. Without national provision, disabled
people could experience a ‘postcode lottery’ for accessing specialist disability
employment support, with a wealth of support available in some areas of the country
but not others.
3.16. To test whether this postcode lottery exists, Shaw Trust has mapped the locations of
providers of specialist disability employment services in two of our Work Choice
Contract Package Areas (CPAs): Greater Manchester Central, East and West; and
Staffordshire, Coventry, Warwickshire and the Marches. The danger of the postcode
lottery was evident across both CPAs. For example, in the Greater Manchester CPA,
there was a wealth of specialist disability employment provision available in the City of
Manchester itself, with 27 different organisations offering back to work support. In
contrast, in Wigan there are only two organisations offering support, one of which
is Shaw Trust. Similarly, in Coventry there are seven organisations delivering
specialist disability employment support, of which six of the seven are national
charities. In the whole Staffordshire, Coventry, Warwickshire and the Marches CPA,
Shaw Trust delivers 30 per cent of the provision.
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
3.17. Although DWP has stated in the DHES that they will build the capacity of smaller local
organisations, without a national programme of support people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments living in areas like Wigan could miss out on accessing vital
support. Additionally, the local market needs to expand significantly from where it is
today if disabled people are to have true choice over the back to work support they
can access.
Protected place funding and supported businesses
3.18. Supported businesses – workplaces where over 50 per cent of the workforce has a
disability – play a crucial role in providing employment opportunities to people with the
most severe disabilities, health problems and impairments. Shaw Trust currently works
with 37 supported businesses through Work Choice, and operates its own supported
business – Shaw Trust Industries in Doncaster – each of which offer tailored
employment opportunities and support focused on disabled people’s abilities.
3.19. Supported businesses are experts in how to employ people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments, so are unlikely to frequently utilise online advice offered by
DWP’s proposed ‘Employer One Stop Shop’ to support employers. Nonetheless,
supported businesses also need additional support to ensure they have the capacity
and capability to offer employment opportunities to disabled people.
3.20. The supported businesses Shaw Trust works with through Work Choice benefit from
the financial supported available to them through protected place funding. Protected
place funding provides £4,800 to primarily supported businesses per year per
protected place, or job vacancy, to provide the Work Choice customers with the most
severe barriers to employment with an opportunity to undertake meaningful paid work.
This £4,800 covers the cost of the intensive on-the-job training and support customers
need to sustain employment. However, the supported businesses responding to Shaw
Trust’s ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ consultation stated that they match funded this
figure by over four times the amount through the training and support they delivered to
customers in protected place funded jobs. To date, Shaw Trust has supported 1,194
people into protected place funded jobs through Work Choice.
3.21. As protected place funding in Work Choice is only guaranteed until 2015, it is
important that DWP clarifies its future policy intentions for the funding in the follow up
paper to the Disability and Health Employment Strategy published later in 2014. Shaw
Trust recommends that protected place funding is extended, as it not only plays
a vital role in providing people with the most severe disabilities and complex
health problems with the opportunity to not only enter or re-enter paid
employment, but also to become active members of society. Without this funding
supported businesses may not be able to offer as many employment opportunities to
disabled people. Ending this funding could counterproductively reduce employment
opportunities for disabled people.
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
3.22. However, Shaw Trust also supports the recommendations of the official Work
Choice evaluation which calls for protected place funding to be used more
innovatively.18 In particular, the evaluation highlights how protected place funding can
be used to fund an Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) approach to creating job
opportunities for Work Choice customers. Rather than one customer receiving the
funding and sustaining one job in the same supported business, the evaluation
recommends that the funding is used to create stepping stone employment
opportunities for Work Choice customers. After a period working in protected place
job, customers who can progress into unsupported employment should be supported
to do so, opening up the protected place funded job to another disabled person.
3.23. Shaw Trust has piloted this innovative approach through its Routes into Sustainable
Employment (RiSE) pilot. Through RiSE we have used funding to not only fund
protected places in a wider range of employers than supported businesses, but also to
create stepping stone employment opportunities for Work Choice customers. Through
protected place funding customers not only receive the support to sustain their job, but
to progress from supported to unsupported employment. This not only helps to
develop their career, but also frees up a supported employment opportunity for each
individual. To date, 269 Work Choice customers have been supported through this
approach.
3.24. Protected place funding therefore is an important catalyst in kick starting the careers of
people with the most complex and severe disabilities. Although the funding can play
an important role in providing customers with a stepping stone employment
opportunity, and should be used to help facilitate a transition into unsupported
employment for those who can, it should also be acknowledged that it also is critical to
ensuring that individuals with the most complex disabilities have the opportunity to
enter and sustain employment.
Section Four: The Mainstream Offer
4.1. It is imperative that the mainstream offer of support – available for people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments that are most able to manage their
own job search process – is designed concurrently with the specialist offer of
support.
4.2. The current mainstream contract – the Work Programme – was designed by the
Coalition Government separately from DWP’s specialist disability employment
programme – Work Choice – which was designed by the previous Government. Shaw
Trust’s ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ reports highlighted some of the significant
challenges that have arisen from this policy disconnect.
18
Purvis et al (2013), Evaluation of the Work Choice specialist disability employment programme: Findings from the 2011
Early Implementation and 2012 Steady State Waves of the research, DWP Research Report No.846
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
4.3. These include a lack of clear criteria as to why some customers with disabilities are
referred to the Work Programme rather than Work Choice and vice versa, and
significant challenges with transferring customers between programmes in the case of
inappropriate referrals. Additionally, Work Programme offers customers preemployment support for a longer duration of two years, compared to just six months on
Work Choice – a programme that is aimed at supporting those with severe disabilities
and health problems into employment.
4.4. To avoid such inconsistencies occurring in future delivery, and to create a joined up
service where customers can easily transfer between the mainstream and specialist
support programmes, any new mainstream and specialist offer of support should
be designed in tandem and promote greater flexibility between programmes.
4.5. In addition to the measures outlined in the strategy to improve the Work Programme,
Shaw Trust urges DWP to consider reviewing the payment structure of the Work
Programme for ESA customer groups. Year four of the contract delivery of the Work
Programme has now commenced, meaning that there is no upfront funding to support
any customer starting on the Work Programme. Although as a prime contractor Shaw
Trust fully acknowledges its contractual commitments to the Work Programme, the
increased complexity of needs of ESA customers compared to the projected caseload
in the Work Programme tender (such as those with a twelve month return-to-work
prognosis being admitted into Payment Group six), requires more investment from
providers to deliver the tailored support needed for a customer to return to
employment.
4.6. Further tailored support could be provided to ESA customers if the Work Programme
payment structure for these groups was realigned. This could be achieved by
redistributing a proportion of the funding for job outcomes or sustainments to
the attachment phase, or by creating a series of transitional funding triggers for
achieving distance travelled. This would enable providers to invest more heavily in
timely, tailored interventions which support customers in managing their health
conditions and pave a realistic and sustainable path back into employment.
4.7. Shaw Trust also recommends that careful consideration is given to how ESA
customers in the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) are supported by both a future
mainstream and specialist disability employment programme. Although performance
for ESA customer groups on the Work Programme is improving, with six per cent of
ESA customers in payment group six now achieving a sustained job outcome,19 it is
clear that this customer group has not achieved the performance expectations set out
at the start of the contract. This is in contrast to JSA customers in Payment Groups 1
and 2, both of which are now performing above the contractual targets.
19
Statistic gained from using referrals and job outcomes data up to December 2013 on the Work Programme accessed via
DWP Tabtool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/WorkProg/tabtool.html
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
4.8. However, as many ESA WRAG customers are mandated to back to work provision, it
is unclear whether referring customers into a voluntary specialist programme would be
effective. In Shaw Trust’s experience, the voluntary nature of Work Choice is a key
factor in its success. Consideration could therefore be given to a third, distinct and
specialist programme for ESA customers, with a funding stream and delivery model
that is supportive of the health barriers and challenges these individuals face in finding
work.
Section Five: Support for young people
5.1. There are 2.1 million young people under the age of 25 in the UK living with long term
health condition or disability.20 Often, but not always, young people with disabilities,
health problems, and impairments will need additional support from a range of sources
to help them to complete the transition from full time education to further learning,
Apprenticeships or employment. These can include their families, schools, health care
providers, Local Authorities and government departments such as the Department for
Education, Department of Health and DWP.
5.2. It is therefore imperative that a multi-agency approach is implemented when
considering how young people can make the transition into work. Without joined up
objectives, strategies, and delivery from across government, more disabled
young people will not be able to complete the transition from education to
employment. It is vital that steps are taken to remove the post-school ‘cliff edge’
whereby support suddenly drops off leading many to move straight to benefits rather
than higher education, training or a job.
5.3. We welcome the new measures to raise young people’s aspirations included in the
DHES, such as the Inspiring Role Models campaign and the proposed introduction of
Knowledge Packs to challenge misconceptions of the abilities of disabled young
people. However, we need to move beyond advisory measures and focus on
understanding what direct activities will help young people positively make the
transition from education into employment.
5.4. As such, in addition to the measures proposed in the DHES, Shaw Trust urges DWP
to consider how it can practically implement a programme of support for young
people with disabilities, health problems and impairments, to more consistently
achieve positive education or employment outcomes. Supporting disabled young
people once they claim unemployment benefits is too late: the scarring effects of
unemployment on future earnings, mental health and confidence will have already had
an impact.
20
DWP (2013) Disability and Health Employment Strategy: the discussion so far
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
Early intervention
5.5. In Australia, providers of the Disability Employment Service Employment Support
Service (DES-ESS), a programme similar to Work Choice, are required to proactively
engage with schools as part of their DES-ESS delivery. Providers work with local
schools to identify young people with disabilities and health problems approaching
school leaving age that could benefit from DES-ESS support. DES-ESS providers
work collaboratively with the young person, the school and their families to engage the
young person in DES-ESS employability training and jobsearch activity once they
leave school, to quickly support the young person to find suitable and sustainable
employment. This approach of early intervention prevents the young person from
becoming long term unemployed, and provides the young person and their families
with a single point of contact if further support is needed in the future.
5.6. Shaw Trust would welcome the opportunity to work with DWP, DFE, and local
schools to pilot a similar approach to early intervention. We would like to work
with schools to deliver employability training to young disabled people, and work with
young people and their families to identify suitable training and employment
opportunities for young people who are able to work when they are approaching the
end of their full time education.
5.7. This approach would not only help young people to secure employment, but also equip
them with the resources to develop a successful career. Some young disabled people
are able to make the transition between education and employment independently, but
for those that are not able, this additional support will help to prevent young disabled
people from becoming long term unemployed.
Section 6: Support for employers
Comprehensive support for employers
6.1. Shaw Trust welcomes DWP’s increased focus on supporting employers to recruit and
retain people with disabilities, health problems and impairments in their workforces.
This is an important step needed to create an inclusive society. Employers have a
critical role to play in raising the employment rate of disabled people, as without their
vacancies and on-going support in the workplace, increased numbers of people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments will not have the support they need to
enter and sustain employment.
6.2. Shaw Trust’s research with employers for our ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ reports
emphasised that despite the negative attitudes of some employers towards employing
disabled people, the vast majority of employers were willing to offer employment
opportunities to people with disabilities, health problems and impairments. However,
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
they were unsure of how to develop an accessible recruitment process, make
workplace adjustments, or how to offer tailored support to their disabled employees.
6.3. Shaw Trust’s final ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ report recommended that the
Government should launch a national culture change campaign aimed at building
employers’ ability to employ disabled people, as well as transforming employers’ and
society’s attitudes towards disabled people.21 The Government’s Disability Confident
campaign and new proposals for an Employer One Stop Shop outlined in the DHES
are therefore welcome developments. An online Information Portal with details of how
to access Access to Work funding and providing advice on disability law will provide an
easy and accessible point of reference for all employers.
6.4. Details of providers of employment services such as Work Choice should also be
provided on this portal, to enable employers to contact providers directly for
recruitment support. Additionally, the introduction of the new Health and Work Service
will also provide employers with an important source of advice to support employees
with health conditions to remain in employment.
6.5. However, further engagement with employers is needed if their critical role in
raising the employment rate for people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments is to be fully recognised. The employers participating in Shaw Trust’s
research for ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ stated they wanted support above and
beyond online information. Many employers highlighted the importance of the tailored
support they had received in person or by phone from a Work Choice adviser. Some
employers we interviewed had built up a close working relationship with an individual
Work Choice adviser. Advisers not only delivered in-work support in the workplace, but
were also available to provide ad-hoc bespoke support if one of the employer’s Work
Choice employees was experiencing difficulties. This bespoke advice was felt by
employers to be vital for ensuring they could help employees with disabilities, health
problems and impairments to maintain and sustain employment. It suggests that a
more intensive service – either provided by organisations delivering specialist disability
employment support or by the Employer One Stop Shop – is crucial to truly enable
employers to be ‘disability confident’.
6.6. Similarly, Shaw Trust’s ‘Making Work a Real Choice’ report highlighted the need to
transform some employers’ recruitment processes, to ensure they are fully accessible
for people with disabilities, health problems and impairments. One customer
participating in Shaw Trust’s research focus group highlighted how his learning
disability prevented him from successfully completing an online application form for a
national employer as the screen timed out before he was able to complete all of the
necessary details. This prevented the individual applying for another job with the
employer for eight months. Online application forms were also reported as problematic
21
Shaw Trust (October 2013), Making Work a Real Choice (final report)
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
by other customers with learning difficulties and disabilities and those with visual
impairments. Other feedback Shaw Trust has received through our consultation for
Making Work a Real Choice has highlighted how Access to Work funding cannot be
used to pay for British Sign Language interpreters to accompany people with hearing
disabilities to interviews, which could disadvantage deaf people during the interview
process.
6.7. Although participation in specialist disability employment programmes such as Work
Choice can address some of these barriers, for example by funding the provision of
interpreters for those with hearing disabilities attending interview, or by arranging
alternative forms of interviews such as work trials for customers not able to thrive in a
more formal interview process, only 64,220 people with a disability have been
supported by Work Choice to date.22 Yet, there are 6.4 million people with disabilities,
health problems and impairments currently not in employment. 23
6.8. It is therefore crucial that a more systemic system of support is available to
employers to help them ensure that their recruitment processes, including online, are
fully accessible to individuals with a range of disabilities, and that disabled people
have the support they need to ensure they have a level playing field when attending
job interviews. As recommended in ‘Making Work a Real Choice’, Access to Work
funding should be extended to support both employers and individuals through
the recruitment process. DWP should further consider what extra support it can
offer employers for their recruitment process, as part of its on-going
development of the DHES.
Section 7: Best practice and continuous improvement
7.1. Shaw Trust welcomes DWP’s commitment to building its evidence base through
piloting new forms of support and other research. As part of the final ‘Making Work a
Real Choice’ report. Shaw Trust commissioned the Centre for Economic and Social
Inclusion (Inclusion) to conduct a literature review to identify ‘what works’ in helping
people with disabilities, health problems and impairments into sustainable
employment. Like DWP’s own commissioned literature review on the same subject,24
Inclusion concluded that there was a limited evidence base to conclusively identify
‘what works’ in helping disabled people to secure sustained work. The ambiguous use
of terms such as ‘supported employment’ and the use of a myriad of different
methodologies, outcome data and participant groups rendered it difficult to find
comparative data for each employment programme.
22
Taken from the February 2014 official Work Choice statistics published by DWP:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277235/work-choice-statistics-feb-2014.pdf
23 DWP (2013), Disability and Health Employment Strategy: the discussion so far, Annex B
24 DWP (2013), What works for whom in helping disabled people into work?
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
7.2. A number of measures could be implemented to help build the evidence base of ‘what
works for whom’ in the future. Firstly, DWP could require providers to collect more
robust data regarding the characteristics of customers on the future specialist disability
employment programme, and to monitor common characteristics of those entering
work, and those not succeeding in entering work, in addition to the outcomes of any
interventions such as work trials.
7.3. Linked to this, DWP could require providers as part of the commissioning process to
commission their own independent evaluations of their contract delivery, which could
be used to feed into the central DWP programme evaluation process. Commissioners
such as the Big Lottery Fund contractually require providers to conduct evaluations at
the end of their contracts. Finally, DWP could work with ERSA, BASE and other trade
bodies and representative organisations such as ACEVO, to build a best practice
sharing database for all providers of employability services to disabled people. This
could include best practice from non-DWP contracts, and should be used to build the
evidence base of ‘what works’ in supporting people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments into sustained work.
Conclusion and recommendations
In conclusion, Shaw Trust would like to highlight three key themes that lie at the heart of our
response:
A. The DHES is only a starting point to support more disabled people that can
work, into work. Shaw Trust supports the Disability and Health Employment
Strategy, and it is positive that we have a specific strategy which focuses on
increasing access, entry into and the sustainment of employment for people with
disabilities, health problems an impairments. However, the Government, charities,
providers, disabled people’s user led organisations and employers all need to work
together to fill in the detail and ensure investment, innovation and increased support
for people with disabilities, health problems and impairments, if we are to facilitate a
significant increase in their employment rate.
B. The DHES is only one piece of a complex jigsaw in supporting disabled people
into work. In addition to working with providers, stakeholders and disabled people
themselves, DWP needs to work with other government departments, such as DFE,
DoH and BIS to join up support for disabled people. This is particularly critical for
young people with disabilities and health problems. Young people should be able to
receive the support needed to access the labour market before they leave full time
education, and not only at the point of their benefit claim, or referral onto a
programme like Work Choice. Shaw Trust would welcome the opportunity to work
with DWP, DFE and Local Authorities to develop a pilot that creates a seamless
transition for young disabled people from education into employment.
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
C. Both local and national provisions have an important role to play in supporting
more disabled people to enter and sustain work. A national programme offers
disabled people nationwide access to a consistent programme of back to work
support. Local provision can enhance this offer and provide access to specialist and
peer led support. The role of a national programme is of particular importance in
areas where there is no local specialist provision available.
Recommendations
Drawing on the points raised throughout this response, Shaw Trust’s 10 key
recommendations to inform DWP’s final DHES strategy and delivery plan are as follows:
1. DWP should ensure that elements contributing to the success of its existing specialist
disability employment provision are maintained and enhanced rather than lost in the
design of the new system. These include streamlined, joined-up support; sufficient
service fees; and voluntary participation.
2. The expansion of choice and control for people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments should ensure that consistent national support remains in place for
those less comfortable with assuming control of their own provision.
3. A national specialist programme of employment support should be maintained to
avoid creating a ‘postcode lottery’, disadvantaging people in areas with limited or no
provision.
4. The proposed ‘gateway’ assessment tool should be applied to all DWP customers
and made sufficiently robust through clearer eligibility and referral criteria and the
greater use of data analytics. Funding models for future programmes should include
sufficient service fees based on individual need, and the consideration of distance
travelled payments to incentivise progression of those furthest from the job market.
5. DWP should clarify its intentions for the allocation of its £350 million disability
employment support budget for 2015/16, and consider evidence that increased
funding and expanded provision will provide the best chance of supporting more
disabled people into work.
6. Funding for Protected Places should be extended to further promote new
Intermediate Labour Market approaches and provide valuable employment
opportunities for those with the most complex health conditions.
7. DWP’s new ‘mainstream offer’ should be designed in close tandem with the specialist
offer, to ensure maximum flexibility and avoid policy inconsistencies experienced with
Work Programme and Work Choice.
8. DWP should embrace greater actions to improve disability employment support for
young people to avoid the ‘cliff edge’ faced by many leaving schools straight onto
benefits. Shaw Trust would welcome the opportunity to pilot an approach focussed
on early intervention and joined up, multi-agency support.
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DWP’s Disability and Health Employment Strategy: Shaw Trust response (April 2014)
9. DWP’s employer engagement should focus more clearly on promoting accessible
recruitment practices and providing a greater level of systemic support to employers,
building on best practice from Work Choice and extending Access to Work funding.
10. DWP should take further steps to build its evidence base, including encouraging
providers to collect more data on their customers and facilitating the creation of a
best practice sharing portal.
Shaw Trust would welcome the opportunity to discuss the issues raised in this report
further. For further information please contact the Policy and Research team on
business.development@shaw-trust.org.uk
April 2014
Shaw Trust, Shaw House, Epsom Square, White Horse Business Park, Trowbridge, BA14
0XJ
Registered Charity Number 287785
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