BASE urges Government to consider employment needs of people with disabilities

The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) has responded to the Government’s welfare reform proposals . The statement urges Government to avoid hasty decisions and reconsider how specialist employment support for people with significant disabilities is commissioned. Chief Executive, Huw Davies, commented that “the election of a coalition Government should offer opportunities for discussing the most appropriate policies, both for disabled jobseekers and for the taxpayer. We urge the Government to consider the full impact of their decisions on disabled jobseekers and not to act in haste. We understand that Government must target scarce resources in the most cost-effective way but they should recognise the potential for overall savings by protecting investment in supported employment services.”
 
“The Government has recently started to spell out its plans for welfare reform. The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) recognises the need to ensure a maximum return on taxpayer investment within employment services and supports the focus on achieving sustainable jobs.
 
We welcome the proposal to investigate how work can be incentivised and how the benefits system can be simplified. For many people with significant or complex disabilities, the focus on working a minimum of 16 hours per week is not helpful and we warmly welcome any moves to better integrate wages, welfare benefits and taxation within a coherent and simplified system.
 
Only 6.8% of people with a learning disability and 3.4% of people with a serious mental health need are in paid employment. BASE wants to see a steady improvement on these figures. This will necessitate easy access to specialist employment support services and a review of the procurement of these services. There is mounting evidence that supply chain commissioning has not been cost effective and does not deliver sufficient job outcomes for people with a substantial disability.
 
This is an opportunity to review the most appropriate means of supporting people into employment and commissioning services accordingly. BASE does not believe that a single Work Programme, using differential payments, will deliver significant outcomes for people with a range of substantial disabilities. BASE favours a mixed approach to the commissioning of specialist employment support services. We believe that strategically commissioned district services offer the most effective way of assuring a sustainable service infrastructure to support clients with significant disabilities.
 
Successive Governments have sought to better personalise employment services. Supported employment agencies deliver tailored support to disabled people and their employers, yet local services remain chronically under funded and unable to meet demand. Specialist employment support services are provided by local authorities as well as the Department for Work and Pensions. BASE is greatly concerned about the impact of fiscal pressures on this provision. We urge the Government to ensure that local authorities do not disinvest in supported employment provision at a time when demand for that support is so high.
 
The Coalition’s plans rightly refer to the responsibility of individuals to seek employment. We support this principle; indeed, 65% of people with a learning disability say that they want to work. We are, however, concerned about how potential sanctions might impact on those most vulnerable. There is a risk that the rapid reassessment of all incapacity benefit claimants will lead to some people being denied the specialist support that they need. We agree that the right work is good for people’s health and so it is vital that sustainable job outcomes are achieved through careful job matching and ongoing support to both the jobseeker and employer.
 
There is a clear financial case for supporting people with significant disabilities into work. Evidence from Kent suggests average savings of £1300 to the local authority and £5800 to the taxpayer for every person with a learning disability who moves into employment. We urge the Government to maintain the Valuing Employment Now and Work, Recovery & Inclusion strategies and to continue to collect local data on the employment rates of people with a learning disability or serious mental health need. We believe that any commissioned employment support should be locally accountable and closely linked to the health, social care and education pathways into employment.
 
While BASE agrees with the principle of customer choice and personalised provision, we have concerns about the implementation of individual budgets. We are not yet convinced that there is a demand to purchase such services and it has the potential to add an unreasonable, and unfunded, administrative burden to services. Issues of quality assurance will also need careful examination. BASE believes that personalisation should not marginalise customers who may fall between funding streams or who do not meet Fair Access to Care Services (FACS) criteria. Supported employment can make an important contribution in delivering effective low level preventative services for people whose social care needs do not currently meet FACS eligibility.
 
We urge the Government not to rush into any decisions before fully understanding their impact on those who are most excluded from the workplace. Responsibility and fairness within the welfare system requires nothing less.”

For more information about BASE, or to read their policy statement, please visit www.base-uk.org