Stepping up: Bridging local disability

employment gaps
July 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 is the largest voluntary sector provider

for the Department for Work and Pensions.
Through 16 prime contracts for Work Choice, the
specialist disability employment programme, Shaw
Trust has supported over 14,000 people with
severe disabilities, health problems or impairments
into employment since 2010. Our extensive
experience of supporting people into sustainable
employment also includes delivery of the Work
Programme and its predecessor contracts as both
a prime contractor and subcontractor.

Shaw Trust further supports people to gain skills

and progress into work through an expanding
network of local social enterprise projects known
as Shaw Trust Enterprises. In partnership
with local government and others, Shaw
Trust Enterprises offer unique stepping stone
employment opportunities at community-based
enterprises ranging from horticultural centres and
wood recycling plants to catering services and
community cafés.

Shaw Trust also delivers a number of learning

and skills contracts, operates 50 retail shops
nationwide and runs a national volunteering
programme. We are also an approved sponsor
for academies through Shaw Education Trust;
a multi-academy trust established to support
special schools and mainstream schools serving
disadvantaged communities.

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 2

 Executive Summary
Less than half of people with a disability, health
problem or impairment are in work. Compared
to nearly eighty per cent of those without a
disability, this stubborn gap in employment
between disabled and non-disabled people
remains too large.
This is a familiar element of the disability
employment debate, but rightly so. Despite a
return to economic growth and rising overall
employment, in the past year the number
of disabled people in work has fallen.1
Wide variation between local areas illustrates
the urgent need for new local solutions to
complement national efforts to support more
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments into work.
On a local enterprise partnership (LEP) level,
for example, only 27 per cent of disabled people
in the Cumbria LEP area are in work compared
to 52 per cent in the Buckinghamshire Thames
Valley LEP area – despite near-identical overall
employment rates.2 Even at the upper end of
this scale, the proportion of disabled people in
work is 25 per cent below the local average. If
these local ‘disability employment gaps’ could be
bridged, more than two million people currently
excluded from employment would have the
chance to gain independence and reach their
potential through work, generating huge social
and economic returns.
Through City Deals, the Single Local Growth
Fund and new EU funds, at least £15 billion
will be devolved to local economic areas
in the next parliament, including funding for
employment and skills. This represents a major
new opportunity for local areas to address
the wide variety of barriers to work faced by
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments across the UK, promoting wide
social and economic benefits.
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 3
To successfully bridge local disability employment
gaps, LEPs and local government leaders must
take full advantage of new powers and funding.
Clear plans to improve the employment
prospects of people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments must be placed
at the heart of local economic strategies.
This report shows that local social enterprises
providing ‘stepping stone’ employment
opportunities have the potential to play a central
role in achieving this aim.
Bridging local disability employment gaps
The gap in employment rates between disabled
and non-disabled people remains too high across
the country. Yet the proportion of disabled
people in work varies widely between local
areas; from 24 per cent to 52 per cent on a
LEP level.3 To effectively bridge local disability
employment gaps, local barriers to work faced
by people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments must be accurately identified and
addressed with robust policies to break them
down.
1
The employment level of 16-64s classified as Equality Act core
disabled and/or work-limiting disabled fell from 3,471,308 in Q1
2013/14 to 3,442,363 in Q4. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey,
May 2014.
2
ONS Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec 2012 (latest available
LEP-level data). Full data available at Annex A
3
Ibid
 Executive Summary
The opportunity for local solutions
LEPs are preparing to access over £15 billion
of pooled central funds in the next parliament.
These new powers and funds available to local
economic areas represent a major opportunity
to remove barriers to work faced by people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments on
a local level. It is essential that local economic
areas take full advantage of this opportunity
to bridge local disability employment gaps; to
promote a more inclusive society and realise their
full economic potential.
Robust policies to improve outcomes for
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments must therefore be a central feature
of new local economic strategies. New local
solutions must be closely aligned with existing
and future national specialist disability
employment support, which remains essential
as new local services are developed over time.
Bridging local disability employment gaps:
Shaw Trust Enterprises
Community-based social enterprises have the
potential to play a significant role in bridging
local disability employment gaps, through the
provision of unique ‘stepping stone’ employment
opportunities. This integrated approach –
currently being rolled out across an expanding
network of local Shaw Trust Enterprises –
uniquely combines work placements, skills
training and personalised employability
support to progress individuals facing serious
barriers to work into sustained mainstream
employment.
In this way a range of interlinking objectives can
be realised. Research has shown that this model
can successfully achieve not only sustainable
employment outcomes in the mainstream
labour market, but also improve participants’
confidence and social skills, reduce
recidivism for ex-prisoners, and improve
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 4
community wellbeing and the environment.4
There is a further opportunity for local enterprises
to be tailored to address local skills gaps and
meet the needs of local job markets.
A number of Shaw Trust Enterprises are
developing and implementing this stepping stone
approach across the UK, from Portsmouth to
Perth. Business activities range from gardening
and wood recycling to catering and community
cafés. The early signs are positive: at Shaw
Trust Enterprise Greater London, a wood
recycling centre in Bromley, sixty per cent
of trainees who have undertaken stepping
stone opportunity have since progressed into
mainstream employment.5
Through strong local partnerships with
local authorities, employers and others, social
enterprises can make a significant contribution
to bridging local disability employment gaps,
promoting community wellbeing and driving local
economic growth and prosperity.
Shaw Trust Enterprise Catering
Shaw Trust Enterprise Clamp Hill
Shaw Trust Enterprise Greater London
Shaw Trust Enterprise Hampshire
Shaw Trust Enterprise Lowestoft
Shaw Trust Enterprise North East
Westbank Enterprises Perth
Shaw Trust Industries Doncaster
4
Nockolds, D (2012), Exploring success for intermediate labour
market social enterprises: a literature review, Brotherhood of St
Laurence, pp.5-6
5
Out of 28 paid trainees in the past year, 17 have since
progressed to mainstream employment
 Recommendations for action
The potential benefits to be gained by
bridging local disability employment gaps are
substantial and wide-ranging: from creating
a more inclusive society where everyone has
a chance to gain independence and reach
their potential through work, to realising huge
financial savings and boosting local economic
growth.
But the opportunity for change must be seized
with clear plans at the heart of local economic
strategies aimed at improving outcomes for
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments.
1. Local authorities and LEPs should carry
out comprehensive local disability needs
analyses to identify local barriers to work
faced by people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments, in order to
underpin actions to break them down.
2. LEPs and local authorities should take
full advantage of newly devolved powers
and funding by placing robust policies for
bridging local disability employment gaps
at the heart of their economic strategies.
This will be essential to ensure fulfilment of
the public sector equality duty, as required by
the Equality Act 2010.
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 5
3. The design of new local solutions to bridge
disability employment gaps must involve
clear steps to integrate and align local and
national provision, including joint working
between agencies and co-design of
services where appropriate.
4. Wide access to community-based
stepping stone employment opportunities
should be a central feature of local efforts to
support more people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments into work.
5. Public, private and voluntary sector
organisations should commit to the further
testing and evaluation of new approaches
to bridge the disability employment gap, to
build the evidence base on ‘what works’.
The wide range of barriers to work faced
by people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments across the UK illustrates
the urgent need for new local solutions to
complement national provision. There is now
a major opportunity – and clear social and
economic imperatives – for local economic
areas to step up to this challenge.
 Chapter 1 Introduction
Employment opportunities for people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments
remain too limited. Less than half of people with
a disability in the UK are in work, compared to 79
per cent of non-disabled people: a stubborn gap
of over thirty per cent.6 We know a substantial
proportion of those out of work do want a job,
but are currently deprived of the opportunity to
gain independence, empowerment and inclusion
through employment. Our economy and society
is further deprived of this significant potential
contribution.
The environment in which improved outcomes for
people furthest from the labour market are sought
is fast changing. This report argues that there
now exists a major opportunity for local areas
to exploit new powers and funds to bridge
disability employment gaps locally, including
through new ‘stepping stone’ employment
opportunities rooted in local communities.
Chapter two shows that disability employment
rates vary widely across the country on a local
enterprise partnership level, suggesting a broad
range of local barriers faced by people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments
across the country. Clearly, local solutions are
needed to complement national efforts to
address barriers to work.
Chapter three argues that there is now a major
opportunity to identify and break down local
barriers through newly devolved powers and
funding. Whilst £223 million has so far been
devolved through City Deals, in the next
parliament the major parties have pledged
at least £15 billion to local economic areas
through new combined funding pots. Crucially,
this will include funds for employment and
skills related provision. There is therefore clear
potential for local areas to make significant
progress in bridging disability employment gaps.
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 6
This opportunity must be grasped with robust
policies at the heart of local economic
strategies, which effectively complement
national provision. Chapter four presents a new
model of community-based stepping stone
support, exemplified by a new network of local
Shaw Trust Enterprises, with the potential to
play a central role in achieving this aim. With
local authorities and local enterprise partnerships
set to receive substantial new funds and powers
within months – contingent upon demonstrating
clear plans to improve local outcomes – the time
to act is now.
This report builds on Shaw Trust’s major
2013 research project Making Work a Real
Choice, (MWaRC) which laid out the case for
improving specialist employment support for
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments.7 Since Shaw Trust published
MWaRC, the Government has committed to
maintaining and enhancing a distinct national
specialist programme of personalised support
for people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments, and introducing a new needs
assessment to better target provision; two key
recommendations from the final report.
Getting the detail of these proposals right in
the coming months will be crucial.8 This report
represents a further contribution to the debate,
at a time when all the major parties – and newly
empowered local economic areas – are seeking
new ways to improve the employment prospects
of people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments across the UK.
6
ONS Labour Force Survey, May 2014, Table A08
7
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice: Where next
for specialist disability employment support?, final report
8
Shaw Trust’s response to DWP’s Disability and Health
Employment Strategy discussion paper is available at
http://bit.ly/1qDVu9g
 Chapter 2 The local challenge: bridging disability employment gaps

People with disabilities, health problems
and impairments are not sharing in the
economic recovery.
As the UK economy has returned to growth the
number of people in work increased by 722,000
in the year to March 2014.9 Yet people with
disabilities or health problems have not shared
in this upturn. In fact, whilst the overall workforce
grew substantially in the past year, the number
of people with disabilities or health problems
in work has decreased by nearly 29,000.10
During this period the disability employment
gap – the gap in employment rates between
disabled and non-disabled people – widened by
a percentage point.11
There are wide local variations in disability
employment rates
For this report Shaw Trust analysed the
employment rate of people with disabilities or
health problems on a local enterprise partnership
(LEP) level – new partnerships between local
government and businesses assuming increasing
influence over employment, skills and other
growth-related policies. Figure A on the next
page illustrates these findings, showing the
disability employment rate of England’s 39 LEPs
alongside the devolved nations of Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland,14 grouped into
seven colour-coded bands. Full data is available
in Annex A.

Long-term unemployment amongst people with

disabilities or health problems has also
continued to rise. The number who have been
claiming Employment Support Allowance in
the work-related activity group for 12 months
or longer almost doubled in the year to August
2013, to nearly 350,000.12 A recent analysis
by Inclusion found that disabled people remain
“more likely to be long-term unemployed than
their non-disabled peers”, with “substantially
fewer unemployed for less than three months
and more at the top end of the scale”.13
9
ONS Labour Force Survey, May 2014
10
ONS Labour Force Survey, May 2014, Table A08. The
employment level of 16-64s classified as Equality Act core disabled
and/or work-limiting disabled fell from 3,471,308 in Q1 2013/14 to
3,442,363 in Q4

Ibid. The ‘gap’ in employment rates between 16-64s classified as

11

Equality Act core disabled and/or work-limiting disabled and those

not classified as such increased from 31 per cent in Q1 2013/14 to
32 per cent in Q4
12
Benefit claimants - employment and support allowance (WRAG
phase), retrieved from Nomis in May 2014. Number claiming for one
year or more increased from 185,500 in August 2012 to 347,060 in
August 2013 (latest available data), an 87 per cent rise.
13
Purvis A, et al (July 2014), Fit for Purpose: Transforming
employment support for disabled people and those with health
conditions, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion
14
Source: ONS Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec 2012 (latest
available data). Full data available at Annex A

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 7

 Chapter 2 The local challenge: bridging disability employment gaps

Figure A: Disability employment rates by local enterprise partnership area

1. Black Country LEP

2. Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP Key: Disability
3. Cheshire and Warrington LEP employment rate (%)
4. Coast to Capital LEP
5. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly LEP
6. Coventry and Warwickshire LEP 20 to 25
7. Cumbria LEP
8. Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire LEP 26 to 30
9. Dorset LEP
10. Enterprise M3 LEP 31 to 35
11. Gloucestershire LEP
12. Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP 36 to 40
13. Greater Cambridge and Peterborough LEP
14. Greater Lincolnshire LEP 41 to 45
15. Greater Manchester LEP
16. Heart of the South West LEP 46 to 50
17. Hertfordshire LEP
18. Humber LEP 51 to 55
19. Lancashire LEP
20. Leeds City Region LEP
21. Leicester and Leicestershire LEP
22. Liverpool City Region LEP
23. London LEP
24. New Anglia LEP
25. North Eastern LEP
42
26. Northamptonshire LEP
27. Oxfordshire LEP
28. Sheffield City Region LEP
29. Solent LEP
30. South East LEP
31. South East Midlands LEP
32. Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP
33. Swindon and Wiltshire LEP
34. Tees Valley LEP
35. Thames Valley Berkshire LEP
36. The Marches LEP
37. West of England LEP
38. Worcestershire LEP 25
39. York and North Yorkshire LEP
40
40. Northern Ireland*
41. Wales* 7 34
42. Scotland*
39

19 20 18

15
22 28

3 14
8
32

36 12
21
1 24
13
41
38 6 26
31

11 2
27 17

23
37 35
33
10
30
29 4
16
9

5
*National-level data has been used for
Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland

Source: ONS Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec 2012. Full data available in Annex A

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 8

 The map at Figure A shows wide variations
between LEP areas. By the most recent data
available on an LEP level, the UK average
disability employment rate is 33 per cent,
compared to 71 per cent for the population at
large.15 However, on an LEP level the rate ranges
from 24 per cent in the Liverpool City Region LEP
area to 52 per cent for Buckinghamshire Thames
Valley LEP and Hertfordshire LEP.16
There are also some strong regional trends.
A concentration of LEP areas in the lower
range, where only 20-30 per cent of people with
disabilities are in work, are located in the North
West (Liverpool; Cumbria; Greater Manchester),
and the North East (Tees Valley; North Eastern).
Sheffield City Region LEP and the Black Country
LEP, as well as Northern Ireland and Wales, also
fall into this lower band. Scotland displays a rate
just above, at 31 per cent. LEPs in the East and
South East of England generally display higher
disability employment rates in the 40-50 per cent
range.
However there are also wide variations within
regions. For example in the West Midlands, the
disability employment rate ranges from 29 per
cent in the Black Country LEP area to 42 per cent
for Worcestershire LEP. In the South East it also
ranges by 14 per cent, and in the North West by
10 per cent.
Figure B shows a selection of LEPs with an
overall employment rate of 75 to 78 per cent.
However, their disability employment rates range
from 27 per cent in Cumbria LEP area to 52 per
cent in Hertfordshire. It also shows, for example,
that whilst Oxfordshire LEP area has a higher
overall employment rate than neighbouring
Buckinghamshire LEP, its disability employment
rate is 12 percentage points lower.
Clearly, variations in local disability employment
rates cannot be easily explained by variations in
overall labour market participation. Other local
factors are at work.

Figure B: LEP disability employment rates:

Disability employment rate
sample selection
Overall employment rate

80
70 78 77 77 77
75 75 75
60
50
52 52
40
40 44
30 39
34
20 27
10
0
Cumbria LEP Cheshire and Dorset LEP Oxfordshire Enterprise Buckinghamshire Hertfordshire
Warrington LEP LEP M3 LEP Thames Valley LEP
LEP

ONS Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec 2012 (latest available data).

15

16-64s classified as DDA disabled, work-limiting disabled, or both.

16
For full data on LEP-level disability employment rates, see Annex A.

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 9

 Chapter 2 The local challenge: bridging disability employment gaps
Identifying local barriers to work
Identifying locally-specific barriers to work
faced by people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments should therefore
be a priority. This will be essential to ensure that
local strategies can be tailored appropriately to
bridge local disability employment gaps.
On a national level, some evidence is available
highlighting common barriers to work faced
by people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments. For example, Shaw Trust
research carried out for the Making Work a Real
Choice report, through consultation with almost
300 customers on Work Choice, the national
specialist disability employment programme,
found that the most valued areas of support were
building confidence, one-to-one time with an
adviser and CV assistance – each cited by over
a third of respondents.17 The official evaluation
of Work Choice for the Department of Work and
Pensions (DWP) also highlighted that improved
‘confidence and motivation’ was felt by both
customers and providers to be a ‘key impact’ of
participation.18
“The combination of two quarters
vision and only being able to read
slowly are enough to knock my
confidence, even though it may not
look like there’s anything wrong with
me” – Neil, trainee gardening assistant
at Westbank Enterprises, a partnership
between Shaw Trust and Perth and
Kinross Council
Additionally, the recent ONS Life Opportunities
Survey showed that a health condition,
illness, impairment or disability were the
most frequently cited barriers to work faced by
respondents who were out of work throughout the
research period.19 It also showed that anxiety
or lack of confidence was the most common
barrier outside a disability or health condition.
Family responsibilities, difficulty with
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 10
transport, attitudes of employers and lack of
qualifications, experience or skills made up
the remainder of the five most common barriers
outside of a health condition or disability.
Similar conclusions were reached by a survey
for DWP of over a thousand people with a
disability claiming out-of-work benefits. This
found the most common barriers were a lack of
job opportunities; difficulty with transport;
attitudes of employers; and a lack of
qualifications, experience or skills.20 Indeed,
research shows that people with a disability are
half as likely to have a degree, more likely to lack
functional literacy, and twice as likely to have no
qualifications compared to non-disabled people.21
This national level of evidence serves to highlight
the types of barriers that must be addressed by
new localised employment and skills support
in order to bridge local disability employment
gaps. However, the prevalence and influence
of these barriers on a local level is generally
unknown. Identifying the relative local impact of
certain barriers – such as skills gaps, transport
issues or accessibility to local services – will be
essential to ensure new provision can effectively
bridge local disability employment gaps.
17
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice: Interim
report and consultation
18
DWP (2013), Evaluation of the Work Choice Specialist
Disability Employment Programme: findings from the 2011
Early Implementation and 2012 Steady State Waves of the
research, p.123
ONS (2014), Life Opportunities Survey, Understanding
19
Disability Wave Two, Part II Release, Reference tables for
Chapter 3
20
DWP (2013), A survey of disabled working age benefit
claimants.
Social Market Foundation (2007), Disability, Skills and Work:
21
Raising our ambitions, p.5
 Local economic areas must therefore take
clear steps to identify local needs and
barriers including through direct consultation
with disabled people, service providers, and
others.
Recommendation one: Local
authorities and LEPs should carry out
comprehensive local disability needs
analyses to identify local barriers to work
faced by people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments, in order to
underpin new local solutions.
The case for improved outcomes for people
with disabilities, health problems and
impairments
There are clear imperatives for local economic
areas, alongside national policy-makers, to focus
efforts and investment on bridging local disability
employment gaps.
Most importantly, whilst there are those who
may not be able to work, research is clear that a
large proportion of people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments who are not in work
do want a job. Research carried out for DWP
found that over half of disabled people claiming
benefits wanted to work,22 whilst another study
found disabled people are up to three times more
likely than others to be without a job but want to
work.23
There is a basic responsibility for the state,
charities, local authorities and other key
stakeholders to ensure all citizens have
equal opportunity to achieve their potential
and gain independence and inclusion through
work, regardless of whether they have a
disability, health problem, impairment or other
disadvantage. The Equality Act 2010 and the
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 11
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities further establish these principles into
law. Crucially, the Equality Act’s public sector
equality duty obliges public bodies to “advance
equality of opportunity between people who
share a protected characteristic and people who
do not”.24 Ensuring equal opportunity for disabled
people to gain work must be central to this aim.
There are also powerful financial incentives
to enable more people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments to participate in local
labour markets. The combined extra economic
contribution, alongside reduced welfare costs
and lessened demand on public services, would
result in huge financial gains. This potential, of
which local areas are currently deprived, is vast:
the Social Market Foundation has calculated
that raising the employment rate of people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments to
the national average would boost UK GDP by at
least £13 billion.25
As such, robust strategies to bridge local
disability employment gaps are not only
fundamental to achieving an inclusive society
where everyone has the opportunity to achieve
independence and reach their potential through
work, but also to ensure local areas can realise
their full economic potential and achieve local
growth and prosperity.
22
DWP (2013), A survey of disabled working age benefit claimants,
p.38
Social Market Foundation (2007), Disability, Skills and Work:
23
Raising our ambitions, p.7
24
Government Equalities Office (2011), Equality Act 2010: Public
sector equality duty. What do i need to know? A quick start guide
for public sector organisations, p.4
25
Ibid, p.1
 Chapter 3 An opportunity for local solutions
The potential of new local powers
New powers flowing to local economic areas
represent a major opportunity to improve
outcomes for people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments through tailored
local solutions.
Underpinned by cross-party consensus, recent
progress in the devolution of central government
funds to local economic areas looks set to be
followed by a substantial expansion in the next
parliament. New powers are also flowing to the
devolved administrations in Wales, Northern
Ireland, and particularly Scotland, in the context
of its upcoming referendum on independence.
In England, 24 City Deals, agreements between
city regions and central government for the
devolution of new powers, have already been
finalised. Yet whilst spending on City Deals
totalled £223 million in their first four years,
26
local enterprise partnerships will be able
to access funds worth at least £15 billion in
the next parliament through pooled EU funds
worth €6.2 billion27 and a new Single Local
Growth Fund worth at least £10 billion.28 Labour,
meanwhile, has written to local authorities and
LEPs pledging access to at least £20 billion of
pooled central funding in the next parliament,
building on its plans for a new ‘English Deal’.29
Though some national programmes are likely
to remain, central to these efforts will be new
local powers to control employment and
skills provision. The Coalition has pledged
to give LEPs ‘real influence over local skills
delivery’, while Labour has promised local areas
‘greater control over skills budgets’, control of
‘funding for apprenticeships’ and the power
to ‘lead on delivering the Work Programme’.30
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 12
There is therefore a major new opportunity
for local economic areas to pro-actively
break down barriers to employment faced by
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments.
The creation of new strategies for the adoption
of devolved funds has already begun through
LEPs’ Strategic Economic Plans and interlinked
strategies for control of new EU Structural and
Investment Funds. It is essential that these are
built upon with robust policies to bridge local
disability employment gaps. For the social and
economic reasons laid out in chapter two – and
crucially to meet the terms of the public sector
equality duty – these policies should be at the
heart of new local economic strategies. This
will further enable LEPs and local authorities to
demonstrate the necessary ‘readiness’ to assume
new powers, as areas are increasingly required
by central government to ‘earn’ autonomy
through the presentation of robust plans for
growth.
Recommendation two: LEPs and
local authorities should take full advantage
of newly-devolved powers and funding by
placing robust policies for bridging local
disability employment gaps at the heart
of their economic strategies. This will be
essential to ensure fulfilment of the public
sector equality duty, as required by the
Equality Act 2010.
26
Public Accounts Committee (2014), Sixtieth Report, Promoting
economic growth locally, p.9
27
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (June
2013), Written Statement to Parliament, European Regional
Development Fund and European Social Fund: allocations 2014
to 2020
28
HM Treasury (2013), Investing in Britain’s Future, p.57
BBC News (April 2014), Labour pledges funding boost for
29
English cities
30
Ed Miliband and Ed Balls letter to Local Government leaders
& LEPs (April 2014), available at http://bit.ly/1kN904h
 ‘What works’? Designing interventions to
bridge local disability employment gaps
As highlighted in chapter two, new policies aimed
at bridging local disability employment gaps
must be underpinned by the identification of local
needs and barriers to work faced by people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments.
But how can the wider evidence base further
inform policy considerations?
Evidence on ‘what works’ to help more
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments into work is limited. An independent
review of the evidence by Inclusion, for Shaw
Trust’s Making Work a Real Choice report,
highlighted ‘a number of key constraints to clearly
identifying ‘what works’’.31 Another review for
DWP stressed that ‘good evaluation evidence is
scarce’.32 The matter is complicated by the range
and complexity of needs exhibited by people with
a wide variety of health problems facing serious
barriers to work. There remains an urgent need
for collective action to test and evaluate new
approaches and build the evidence base for
‘what works’.
However, research has highlighted some areas of
good and promising practice that can effectively
support more people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments into sustainable
employment. For example, elements of the
Supported Employment model, including
Individual Placement and Support (IPS), have
been found to improve outcomes in some
areas.33 As explored below, the Intermediate
Labour Market (ILM) approach has also shown
strong results. Moreover, support has been found
to be most effective when it is intensive and
individually personalised,34 and uses one-to-
one, adviser-led support to build confidence
and motivation.35 The independent evaluation of
Work Choice, for example, found that improved
‘confidence and motivation’ through personalised
one-to-one and group support was a ‘key impact’
of the programme according to both participants
and providers.36 Indeed over forty per cent of
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 13
recent participants on Work Choice have moved
into work, including those with the most severe
barriers such as 36 per cent of individuals with a
severe mental illness.37
Intermediate Labour Markets and the use
of social enterprises
A number of studies have found Intermediate
Labour Market (ILM) interventions to be
particularly effective in helping the most
disadvantaged jobseekers into mainstream
employment. This approach provides individuals
furthest from the labour market with a ‘stepping
stone’ to the world of work, through closely
integrating temporary work placements with skills
training and personalised employability support,
with a clear focus on progression to sustained
employment.38
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice final report,
31
Annex One: an independent chapter by Inclusion
32
DWP (2013), What works for whom in helping disabled people
into work?, p.12
33
DWP (2013), What works for whom in helping disabled people
into work?, p.24
34
Purvis A, et al (July 2014), Fit for Purpose, Centre for Economic
and Social Inclusion
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice final report,
35
Annex One: an independent chapter by Inclusion
DWP (2013), Evaluation of the Work Choice Specialist Disability
36
Employment Programme,
37
DWP (2014), Work Choice official statistics: May 2014, p.15.
200 job outcomes from 560 programme starts.
Marshall B and Macfarlane R (2000), The Intermediate Labour
38
Market: A tool for tackling long-term unemployment, Joseph
Rowntree Foundation
 Chapter 3 An opportunity for local solutions
For example, a major study for DWP by
Professor Paul Gregg highlighted ILMs
as a particularly useful means of tackling
barriers to work faced by those furthest from
the labour market, and recommended their
adoption by providers.39 A study by the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation further found a typical
ILM programme to achieve “at least fifty per
cent higher job outcomes for the long-term
unemployed than other programmes”, and can
provide “at least as good or better value for
money” than alternatives.40 ILMs were found
to be particularly effective when they were
progression-focused, provided transferable
skills, closely mirrored real labour market
conditions, and made jobsearch integral.41
DWP’s evaluation of the Future Jobs Fund, a
major ILM programme for young people, also
found a significant and enduring positive impact
on the employment prospects of participants.42
More recent research has highlighted strong
results achieved by ‘ILM social enterprises’,
which implement an ILM approach for the most
disadvantaged jobseekers in social enterprises
that both trade within local communities and
provide additional social benefits. For example,
a review of 143 academic studies from the
UK, US and Australia highlighted that although
more research is needed, available evidence
“consistently shows that ILM social enterprises
can achieve their stated goals”.43
A number of evaluations shows these goals
can include not only sustainable employment
outcomes in the mainstream labour market,
but also improving participants’ confidence
and social skills; reducing recidivism for
ex-prisoners; and improving community
wellbeing and the environment.44 Research
has further highlighted that features integral to
successful ILM social enterprises include the
targeting of provision at the most disadvantaged,
providing ‘real’ work to aid progression,
integrated and flexible training, jobsearch
assistance, and other support from dedicated
case-workers.45 Social enterprises also
provide extra community benefits through their
sustainable business practices and reinvestment
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 14
back into their communities.
In designing policies to bridge local disability
employment gaps, it is essential that local
economic areas embrace interventions
which the evidence indicates have the
greatest chance of improving outcomes. This
includes variations on ILM and social enterprise
approaches, which successfully provide
individuals furthest from the labour market
with the experience, confidence, skills and
personalised support needed for progression into
sustainable employment. Chapter four outlines
one example of this model being implemented
on the ground across the UK by Shaw Trust, in
the shape of eight community-based Shaw Trust
Enterprises.
However, it is firstly important to highlight
an additional challenge which will be crucial
to improving local outcomes for people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments in
the emerging environment.
39
Gregg, P (2008), Realising Potential: A Vision for Personalised
Conditionality and Support, Department for Work and Pensions,
p.17
Marshall, B and Macfarlane, R (2000), The Intermediate Labour
40
Market, p.50
41
Ibid, p.31
DWP (2012), Impacts and Costs and Benefits of the Future Jobs
42
Fund
Nockolds, D (2012), Exploring success for intermediate labour
43
market social enterprises, p.6
44
Ibid, pp.5-6
45
Ibid, pp.7-9
 The funding ‘spaghetti junction’: joining
up national and local
New efforts by the Government to pool central
employment and skills funds for devolution
to local economic areas may help to reduce
complexity in the array of initiatives aimed at
improving outcomes of disadvantaged groups.
However it remains likely that local areas will
continue to confront a ‘spaghetti junction’ of
funding streams and programmes with similar
and overlapping objectives, managed by a
range of local and national agencies. A graphic
illustrating this point is provided in Annex B.
For example, an analysis by Shaw Trust identified
at least fifteen separate major programmes
to support young people not in employment,
education or training (NEET) in London alone,
not including local authority programmes.46
These were run by three separate government
departments, alongside another managed by
the Greater London Authority. A further study by
Inclusion identified 35 different national schemes
aimed at tackling youth unemployment spanning
13 different age boundaries.47
A lack of integration and flexibility between
programmes with similar intentions can lead
to duplication of services, confusion amongst
stakeholders and service users, poor value for
money, and ultimately diminished support for
the intended beneficiaries. For example, for
an initial three years Work Choice customers
were not able to access Skills Funding Agency
(SFA) funded provision as available to Work
Programme customers. This has now been
rectified, after Shaw Trust’s Making Work a Real
Choice report highlighted the discrepancy.48
The Welsh Affairs Select Committee has also
highlighted that Work Programme customers in
Wales and Scotland have been unable to access
ESF-funded support, available to customers in
England.49
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 15
However, the retention of a national specialist
disability employment programme remains
essential to avoid the risk of a ‘postcode lottery’,
particularly where local markets in specialist
disability employment services are very limited
and will take time to develop. For example, a
Shaw Trust analysis of one Work Choice contract
package area (CPA) found 27 local specialist
disability employment providers in one major
part of the CPA, but only two in another (one of
which was Shaw Trust) serving a population of
318,700.50
New local solutions to improve employment and
skills outcomes must therefore complement and
be clearly aligned with national initiatives and
other schemes implemented locally. To avoid
inconsistencies in provision and unnecessary
duplication of services, local and national policy-
makers must work together to ensure flexibility
and integration between programmes with similar
objectives. This will require strong joint working,
effective communication, and the co-design of
services where appropriate.
Recommendation three: The design
of new local solutions to bridge disability
employment gaps must involve clear steps
to integrate and align local and national
provision, through joint working between
agencies and co-design of services where
appropriate. This will be essential to avoid
service duplication and inconsistencies in
support for people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments furthest from the
labour market.
Careers Development Group (2012), Response to the Work and
46
Pensions Select Committee Inquiry into the Youth Contract, p.7.
Available at http://bit.ly/1yi49Ap
Inclusion (2013), Hidden talents: national programmes for young
47
people
Shaw Trust (2013), Making Work a Real Choice: interim report
48
and consultation, p.39
Welsh Affairs Committee, Third Report, The Work Programme in
49
Wales, p.21
In CPA16, 27 specialist providers were identified in the City of
50
Manchester, compared to only two in Wigan. Latest population
data from ONS mid-year population estimates 2012.
 Chapter 4 Shaw Trust Enterprises: stepping stones to employment

Bridging local disability employment gaps: Whilst at different stages of development since
Shaw Trust Enterprises beginning to implement the stepping stone
throughout the past year, each enterprise
Improving employment outcomes for people with seeks to offer unique work placements with
disabilities, health problems and impairments integrated training and support to individuals with
in diverse local economic areas will require disabilities, health problems and impairments
determined action to accurately identify local facing severe barriers to work. They also have
barriers to work. This must be followed up by the potential to deliver additional social and
robust, locally-tailored policies to effectively environmental value through their trade and
break them down, closely aligned with national investment in local communities.
provision.
The business activities of Shaw Trust Enterprises
Within this context, community-based social range from plant nurseries to grounds
enterprises have the potential to play a maintenance services and wood recycling, to
central role in bridging local disability kitchen catering services and community cafés.
employment gaps through the provision The early signs are positive: for example at
of unique ‘stepping stone’ employment Shaw Trust Enterprise Greater London in
opportunities. Bromley, a wood recycling centre, out of 28
participants with a disability, health problem or
The previous chapter outlined the available impairment who have so far undertaken a paid
evidence on common barriers to employment work placement with integrated training and
alongside research on ‘what works’ to support support, 17 have progressed into external
more people with disabilities, health problems employment; a sixty per cent progression rate.
and impairments into jobs. This highlighted
positive findings from approaches which closely
integrate work, skills training and personalised
support with a clear focus on progression into
mainstream employment. When operated out of
social enterprises, the evidence shows strong
results for achieving not only sustainable
employment outcomes in the mainstream
labour market, but also improving participants’
confidence and social skills; reducing
recidivism for ex-prisoners; and improving
community wellbeing and the environment.51

A new and expanding network of Shaw

Trust Enterprises is rolling this model out in
communities across the UK. Eight Shaw Trust
Enterprises have so far been established,
as detailed in Figure D, embedded in local
communities from Portsmouth to Perth.

Nockolds, D (2012), Exploring success for intermediate labour

51

market social enterprises

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 16

 Figure D: Shaw Trust Enterprises offering
stepping stone employment opportunities

Shaw Trust Enterprise Catering:

Hounslow, Harrow and Brentford, London.
Three community cafés and an additional kitchen providing
local catering services.

Shaw Trust Enterprise Clamp Hill:

Stanmore, London.
Garden centre and retail store.

Shaw Trust Enterprise Greater London:

Bromley, London.
Wood recycling centre specialising in collecting wood waste,
grading it and then either selling it on or using it to make
items such as shelves and other furniture.

Shaw Trust Enterprise Hampshire:

Portsmouth and Basingstoke.
Commercial grounds maintenance services, horticultural
centre and retail shop.

Shaw Trust Enterprise Lowestoft:

Lowestoft, Suffolk
Drinks and snacks delivery service to local schools, councils
and businesses.

Shaw Trust Enterprise North East:

Stockton-on-Tees and County Durham.
Two horticultural projects offering commercial grounds
maintenance services, wood recycling and retail store.

Westbank Enterprises:
Perth, Scotland.
Horticultural centre and plant nursery run in partnership with
Perth and Kinross Council. Soon to offer additional grounds
maintenance services, wood recycling, a retail store and
community café.

Shaw Trust Industries:

Doncaster
A supported business factory producing specialist plastic
casings and other products.

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 17

 Case study

Lee’s experience, Shaw Trust

Enterprise Hampshire
Lee Care, from Portsmouth, was referred to
Shaw Trust Enterprise Hampshire by his
Work Programme adviser.

Lee had previously been a primary carer for his

grandmother, who suffered from dementia, for
twenty years. However, following her death, Lee
struggled with severe depression.

Shaken by the loss, he found it hard to return to

employment, and as a result lost confidence in
himself.

After spending some time as a volunteer tending
to local gardens, Lee’s Work Programme
adviser suggested he volunteer on Shaw Trust
Enterprise Hampshire’s 12-week work-based
training programme. Lee successfully signed
up and completed the work placement and
training course, gaining a new qualification in the
process.
He was then interviewed for a six-month
paid contract as a gardening assistant at the
enterprise, and was successful. This involved
assisting his colleagues and team members to
provide grounds maintenance services to local
schools, housing associations and hospitals,
helping with regular garden care, clearances and
landscaping.
Before the end of his paid placement, Lee saw
a carer role advertised at a local dementia
home where he was looking after the garden.
Lee applied for the role and was successful. He
begins work at the care home shortly.
Lee says: “I’ve learned so much from
my time with the enterprise. I didn’t
do anything before, just stayed on the
settee. The experience helped me to meet
different people, get used to being in work,
and improved my confidence. It’s a very
worthwhile scheme. It has brought me out of
my shell.”

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 18

 Chapter 4 Shaw Trust Enterprises: stepping stones to employment
A personalised stepping stone to work
Initially launched at Shaw Trust Enterprise
Hampshire and now being rolled out across
all Shaw Trust’s enterprises, ‘stepping stone’
opportunities will be characterised by:
Fixed-term employment opportunities
These can include paid contracts of up to six
months at most enterprises, as well as voluntary
work experience and training placements.
Referrals can be received from a wide range of
sources; including local Work Choice and Work
Programme providers, local authorities, mental
health and learning disability teams, youth justice
teams and others. Placements are aimed at
individuals with a disability, health problem or
impairment, or others facing severe barriers to
work. For example, some enterprises work with
ex-offenders.
“I’ve always been able to ask questions
and go at my own pace knowing the
opportunity is there for me to learn as
much as I want. My confidence has
grown no end.” – Scott, administration
assistant, Shaw Trust Enterprise
Hampshire
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 19
Skills, training and qualifications
Shaw Trust Enterprise trainees quickly gain
soft and transferable skills on the job such
as teamwork, timekeeping, organisation and
communication. Progression in these areas often
represents a major achievement for individuals
who may have been unemployed for many years.
Shaw Trust Enterprises also offer rapid access to
basic skills training such as IT or literacy, as well
as formal vocational qualifications. For example,
Shaw Trust Enterprise Greater London offers
level one certificates in basic construction skills
(carpentry and joinery) or retail, whilst at Shaw
Trust Enterprise Hampshire trainees can work
towards a level one City & Guilds qualification in
practical horticultural skills.
“It gives me a piece of paper:
people will now listen to
me because I have a proper
qualification” – Kriss, trainee
gardening assistant, Shaw
Trust Enterprise Hampshire
Personalised employability support
A third key strand is the provision of personalised
employability support delivered both in one-to-one
and group settings, alongside work placements
and training. At Westbank Enterprises, for
example, the on-site employment adviser
supports trainees to overcome individual barriers
to work such as low confidence, difficulty with
jobsearching, or access to mental health services.
“We bring together a new group of people
from a variety of backgrounds every
three months. They each have their own
story and issues and often have little or
no experience in gardening. The work is
hard and physical. But the reward is there
at the end when we see how they have
worked, seen their confidence grow and
succeeded in passing the City & Guilds
course.” – Kathee Pitt, project manager,
Shaw Trust Enterprise Hampshire
 Chapter 4 Shaw Trust Enterprises: stepping stones to employment
This integrated and flexible stepping stone
approach has the potential to make a
considerable contribution towards bridging local
disability employment gaps. Key to the model’s
success will be:
Integrated, workplace-based support
As noted in chapter three, research has
highlighted the effectiveness of joining up
support in one place to help individuals furthest
from the labour market simultaneously gain the
confidence, work experience, skills and technical
expertise needed to move into sustainable
mainstream employment.
A personalised and flexible approach
Support is focused on what participants can do,
rather than what they can’t. A wide range of lower
and higher skilled job roles and qualifications will
be available to suit the individual. There is also
potential for enterprises to adapt to local labour
market needs and address local skills gaps.
Progression-focused
There is a clear focus on progression into
sustained mainstream employment. Trainees
at Shaw Trust Enterprises experience conditions
that closely mirror the open labour market. Staff
members engage regularly with local employers
to identify vacancies and build local relationships.
“I had to get used to getting up early in
the morning and working in all weather.
It’s given me a huge amount of confidence
to go out there and find work. My work
at Hampshire is a stepping stone into
permanent work.” – Neil, trainee gardening
assistant, Shaw Trust Enterprise Hampshire
Strong local partnerships
Shaw Trust Enterprises seek to forge strong
partnerships with local government and other
agencies, employers and residents to encourage
referrals, promote community engagement and
contribute towards achieving interlinking social
and economic aims. Westbank Enterprises
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 20
in Perth, for example, has been designed,
funded and remains managed through an active
partnership between Shaw Trust and Perth and
Kinross Council.
Realising economic, social and
environmental objectives
The stepping stone model, provided at social
enterprises embedded within local communities,
holds clear potential for local areas to make
significant progress in bridging local
disability employment gaps, the core objective
considered in this report. However there is also
scope to realise a range of other interrelated
social and economic benefits:
• Promoting a more inclusive society where
people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments, or others at significant
disadvantage, can enjoy equal opportunity to
gain independence and reach their potential
through work. This is also required by the
Equality Act’s public sector equality duty.
• Driving local economic growth through
narrowing the disability employment gap and
widening labour market participation. The
model also provides a unique opportunity to
address local skills gaps and respond to local
labour market needs.
• Promoting wider social and environmental
benefits through the provision of goods and
services of real community value, promoting
environmental sustainability and continued
investment in local communities.
• Joining up local and national provision
through strong partnerships with a wide range
of local and national agencies. For example,
Shaw Trust Enterprises already work closely
with national employment scheme providers,
local authorities, NHS services and local
probation trusts.
 Enabling wide access to local stepping stone
opportunities for people with disabilities,
health problems and impairments – at social
enterprises embedded in local communities –
should therefore form a central part of new local
strategies to bridge disability employment gaps.
Doing so will not only improve employment
outcomes for individuals furthest from the labour
market, but also support the realisation of a
range of social and economic objectives.

Recommendation four: Wide access to

stepping stone employment opportunities
at community-based social enterprises
should be a central feature of new local efforts
to support more people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments into work. This
approach provides a unique opportunity to
realise a range of interlinked economic and
social objectives.

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 21

 Case study
Westbank Enterprises, Perth
Westbank Enterprises is a new social
enterprise in Perth, Scotland.
Designed, funded and managed through a strong
partnership between Shaw Trust and Perth and
Kinross Council, the project is a fully functioning
commercial plant nursery producing and selling
hanging baskets, plants, internal displays and
other items locally. However, it also provides
unique ‘stepping stone’ employment opportunities
for local people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments, and others facing disadvantage
such as ex-offenders.
By uniquely integrating work experience,
training and support, participants with serious
barriers to work are able to gain the confidence,
skills and experience to move into mainstream
employment. Opportunities are flexible and wide-
ranging to account for individual needs: from
low-skilled roles such as planting and picking, to
higher skilled work such as machine operation,
managing deliveries, commercial sales and
environmental controls.
Alongside on-the-job guidance and training from
nursery supervisors, participants complete basic
skills training courses and can work towards a
formal horticultural qualification to bulk up their
CV. Additional personalised support, such as
confidence-building, CV-writing and jobsearch
assistance is provided by the on-site employment
adviser, Giovanna. Each trainee agrees an action
plan with Giovanna, focused on progression into
mainstream employment.
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 22
As a social enterprise, Westbank also brings
wider community benefits through the goods
and services it provides to local businesses and
residents, environmentally friendly operations,
and its continued investment into the community.
Future plans for expansion include a new
community shop and café, grounds maintenance
services, wood recycling and biomass heating
– all of which will grow Westbank’s community
impact and allow even more people in Perth and
Kinross to access stepping stone opportunities
and progress into work.
Jamie’s story
Jamie Ferguson, from Perth,
had been out of work for
two years after being made redundant.
His dyslexia and dyspraxia made writing
a CV, cover letters and application forms
very difficult, compounded by not having
a reference from his previous job. Upon
joining Westbank Enterprises Jamie carried
out two days a week of work experience,
completed an employability skills training
course, and received extra support from
Giovanna to write his CV and apply for
jobs. Thanks to the experience, training
and support received at Westbank, Jamie
has since been successful in gaining a
six-month job at the local council recycling
centre, which he hopes to make permanent.
Jamie says: “Everyone at Westbank
was very supportive and kind. The help
applying for jobs was especially useful.
I now know that there is support and
help out there when applying for a job.”
 Chapter 4 Shaw Trust Enterprises: stepping stones to employment
Investing to promote social value
Local authorities and others have a further
opportunity to promote social inclusion and
economic growth by not only facilitating access
to stepping stone opportunities, but also
purchasing and procuring the goods and
services of local social enterprises that
provide them.
For example, Shaw Trust Enterprise Hampshire
has many years of experience successfully
delivering commercial gardening services for
the local authority at competitive rates in open
competition with other local businesses. This,
in turn, allows the enterprise to expand its
operations and provide more stepping stone
employment opportunities for local residents with
disabilities, health problems and impairments, in
a ‘virtuous cycle’.
In this sense, social enterprises offering stepping
stone employment opportunities provide
an added opportunity for local authorities
to meet their obligations to promote social,
environmental and economic wellbeing through
their procurement and commissioning. These
obligations include the Social Value Act in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the
sustainable procurement duty in Scotland, and
additional terms attached to EU funding.
Building the evidence base
Finally, there is strong potential for the use of
the social enterprise stepping stone model
with other disadvantaged groups facing
severe barriers to work. For example, Shaw
Trust Enterprises has begun to offer ex-offenders
access to its stepping stone opportunities. Indeed
research has highlighted that similar approaches
can be successful in reducing reoffending rates
of ex-offenders.52
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 23
As highlighted in chapter three, there remains a
pressing need to build the evidence base on
‘what works’ to help individuals with disabilities,
health problems and impairments into work.
The identification and dissemination of best
practice will be essential to improving outcomes
on a meaningful scale. Shaw Trust Enterprises
demonstrates a new model of support with great
potential to drive improved outcomes, and which
Shaw Trust will evaluate in order to contribute
towards this collective endeavour. Other public,
voluntary sector and private sector organisations
should embark on similar exercises in earnest.
The facilitation of a best practice sharing
database by central government, in conjunction
with industry trade bodies and providers, is
one way that the dissemination of effective
interventions should be promoted. The evaluation
of new programmes could also be promoted
through conditions attached to contracts in
the commissioning process.
Recommendation five: Public, private
and voluntary sector organisations should
commit to further testing and evaluation of
new approaches to bridge the disability
employment gap, to build the evidence base
on ‘what works’. The Government should
facilitate this through the establishment of a
best practice sharing database.
52
Nockolds, D (2012), Exploring success
 Chapter 5 Conclusion and recommendations

Rising employment across the UK is not filtering
through to people with disabilities, health
problems and impairments. Policy makers
must take urgent action to ensure a return to
economic growth benefits this wide-ranging
group through clear strategies for bridging the
disability employment gap. There is a clear moral
imperative to break down the barriers to inclusion
and independence currently faced by thousands
of individuals with disabilities, health problems
and impairments who want to work, while the
economic and social advantages to be gained
nationally and locally are too great to ignore.
Local areas have a clear opportunity to capitalise
on new powers over employment and skills
provision. But this will require concerted efforts
by local government leaders and LEPs to identify
local barriers to work faced by people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments.
Robust policies to bridge local disability
employment gaps must be placed at the heart of
local economic strategies, closely aligned with
national-level provision.
Finally, there remains a pressing need to further
build the evidence base to establish the most
effective innovations to support people with
disabilities, health problems and impairments into
work. Research in this area remains insufficient,
making the identification of best practice and
its dissemination across the industry hard
to achieve. Testing and evaluating different
approaches, combining the collective efforts
of the public, voluntary and private sectors, is
therefore essential.
This report highlights a clear opportunity to
make significant progress on bridging local
disability employment gaps. But it can only be
realised through a major collaborative, cross-
sector effort to respond to local needs and
enhance support for people with disabilities,
health problems and impairments across the UK.

This report makes the case that stepping

stone employment opportunities at social
enterprises rooted in local communities can
play a central role in these efforts to bridge local
disability employment gaps. As demonstrated
by an expanding network of Shaw Trust
Enterprises, this approach uniquely integrates
work placements, training and personalised
employability support to successfully build
participants’ confidence, skills and experience
necessary to progress into mainstream
employment.

In this way local areas are provided with a unique

opportunity to achieve a range of interlinked
social, environmental and economic objectives:
from creating a more inclusive society where
everyone has a chance to gain independence
and reach their potential through work, to
realising huge financial savings and boosting
local economic growth.

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 24

 Recommendations for action
1. Identifying local needs and barriers
Local authorities and LEPs should carry out
comprehensive local disability needs
analyses to identify barriers to work faced by
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments in their area, and to underpin
local employment and skills strategies. This
should involve direct consultation with
disabled people and service providers.
2. Strengthening local economic
strategies to bridge disability
employment gaps
LEPs and local authorities should take full
advantage of newly devolved powers and
funding by placing robust policies for
bridging local disability employment gaps
at the heart of their economic strategies.
This will be essential to ensure fulfilment of
the public sector equality duty, as required
by the Equality Act 2010.
3. Integrating local and national provision
The design of new local solutions to bridge
local disability employment gaps must
involve clear steps to integrate and align
local and national provision, through joint
working between agencies and co-design
of services where appropriate. This will
be essential to avoid service duplication
and inconsistencies in support provided to
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments furthest from the labour market.
Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 25
4. Enabling access to stepping stone
employment opportunities
Wide access to stepping stone
employment opportunities at social
enterprises rooted in local communities should
be a central feature of local efforts to support
more people with disabilities, health problems
and impairments into work. This approach
provides a unique opportunity to realise a
range of interlinked economic and social
objectives.
5. Building the evidence base on ‘what
works’
Public, private and voluntary sector
organisations should commit to the further
testing and evaluation of new approaches
to bridge local disability employment gaps,
to build the evidence base on ‘what works’.
The Government should facilitate this through
the establishment of a best practice sharing
database.
The variety of barriers to work faced by
people with disabilities, health problems and
impairments across the UK illustrates the
urgent need for locally tailored solutions to
complement national provision. There is now
a major opportunity – and clear social and
economic imperatives – for local economic
areas to step up to this challenge.
 Annex A: Disability employment rates by local enterprise partnership area

Disability employment rate

Overall employment rate

52
Hertfordshire LEP 77
Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP 52
77
44
Thames Valley Berkshire LEP 76
44
Enterprise M3 LEP 77
43
Solent LEP 74
New Anglia LEP 43
76
Worcestershire LEP 42
76
Greater Cambridge & Greater Peterborough LEP 42
75
41
Gloucestershire LEP 77
41
York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP 76
Coast to Capital LEP 41
75
Oxfordshire LEP 40
78
40
West of England LEP 73
39
Greater Lincolnshire LEP 70
South East Midlands LEP 39
75
Heart of the South West LEP 39
74
39
Dorset LEP 75
South East LEP 38
72
37
Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire LEP 70
Leicester and Leicestershire LEP 36
71
35
Northamptonshire LEP 76
35
Swindon and Wiltshire LEP 74
35
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP 69
35
Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP 72
The Marches LEP 35
73
34
Cheshire and Warrington LEP 75
Humber LEP 33
69
Leeds City Region LEP 32
70
Lancashire LEP 32
70
32
London LEP 69
31
Scotland 71
31
Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP 65
31
Coventry and Warwickshire LEP 72
30
Sheffield City Region LEP 68
29
Wales 67
29
Black Country LEP 66
28
Greater Manchester LEP 67
27
Cumbria LEP 75
27
North Eastern LEP 67
25
Tees Valley LEP 64
25
Northern Ireland* 67
24
Liverpool City Region LEP 66

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Source: ONS Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec 2012 (latest available data). The disability employment rate refers
to the percentage of 16-to-64 year olds with a DDA-defined and/or work-limiting disability who are in work.

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 26

 Annex B: The funding ‘spaghetti junction’ – Employment and skills initiatives

Central government departments

Work
Flexible
Experience
Pooled funding sources Support
Programme
Fund

Devolved nations Sector-

based work
academies
Big Lottery ESF/SFA
Work NEET ESF Flexible
Choice Jobcentre contracts fund for
Local authority and local Work Plus unemployed
enterprise partnerships Programme individuals

Innovation European
Fund Social
New pilots Fund (ESF) European
for ESA programmes Regional
claimants Department
Development
for Work and Fund
Pensions
DWP/ESF
Families
Community Residential contracts
Troubled Budgets training EU Structural
families colleges and Investment
programme Funds
New Help to
Enterprise Work
Fair Allowance
Chance
Fund
Department for Single Local
Communities Growth Fund
and Local
Government
Local
government-led
employment
Local employment
pilots
and skills schemes
such as IPS
programmes,
Local authority NEET provision

NOMS/
The funding and LEP-led
programmes
and supported
employment
ESF
contracts Ministry of
‘spaghetti junction’
Justice Employment and skills
initiatives Youth
Cabinet Engagement
Fund
Transforming Office
Rehabilitation
contracts

NHS and
CCGs City Deals

Local mental Youth

Contract
health
employment
programmes

Department for
Education
Jobs Growth
Wales Big Lottery

Devolved
nations National
Opportunities Citizen
Department Employee Service
for All – for Business, Ownership of
Scotland Skills support
Talent Match for Work Innovation and Skills
Programme Skills/Skills
leavers Funding Agency
Community
Jobs
Scottish Apprenticeships
Scotland
apprenticeship and
programme FE/training traineeships
programmes

National Supported
Careers Internships
Service

Stepping up: Bridging local disability employment gaps, July 2014 27

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