Humber Learning Consortium – Written evidence (YDP0025)

Call for evidence: An inquiry into the transition from education to employment for young disabled people.

Humber Learning Consortium (HLC) is a learning and skills partnership hub organisation.  We provide a “single port of call” that enables funders to engage with small providers, especially – though not exclusively – voluntary organisations. We have commitment to disadvantaged learners and a strong focus on the development of our delivery partners.  HLC is a Disability Confident Leader who has worked directly with young disabled and local business for 10 years through the National Lottery Funded This-Ability programme and the Springboard programme which is funded through the European Social Fund.

During this time, we have worked in partnership with learners, employers, local stakeholders, and funders to navigate the obstacles disabled people encounter whilst looking for and sustaining work. The most prominent challenges discussed here, lie in the recruitment and selection process, inaccessible apprenticeships, employer support and obtaining access to work funding for volunteer and work experience placements.

Recruitment and selection  

The recruitment process can directly and indirectly discriminate against disabled people, particularly those who are neurodiverse or have a learning or hidden disability.

The traditional interview process doesn’t allow all delegates to articulate or demonstrate their skills and there is often little opportunity for reasonable adjustments to be made, or for the candidate to have an adjusted interview which allows a person to demonstrate their skills effectively. Such as a working, or less formal interview.

To explore this further, in 2017 HLC and Sheffield Hallam University conducted a feasibility study into the effectiveness of supported employment, this was done in partnership with learners, employers and workplace mentors. Part of the study was to explore accessible interview methods, such as working and supported interviews. We found that people who had the opportunity to either demonstrate or articulate their skills in a comfortable setting were more likely to be successful in securing employment. Here is link to the study MOBY Feasibility Study • This-Ability

Following on from this, HLC secured National Lottery funding to deliver a supported employment programme to both young people ages 18-29 and Employers in Hull and East Yorkshire. The This-Ability Programme started in 2019, since then 39% of programme leavers have entered employment, 58% of those people have sustained their jobs for six months. A large proportion have had a working, supported or adapted interview.[1]

Emma talks about her journey to employment.[2]

Work Experience

Accessing work experience is problematic for young people who are looking for work. Limited access to meaningful/supported work experience placements limits disabled peoples changes of finding employment. Sheffield Hallam University and This-Ability conducted an piece of research into the effectiveness of supported employment, and found that a lack of structured work experience placements made it difficult for learners to access employment.

‘A lack of work experience was described as a major barrier to securing employment particularly for those young people with disabilities, for example, Autism. In two accounts, it was suggested that due to receiving inadequate support in mainstream education and misconceptions around what courses young people with disabilities were best suited to, they were sometimes directed onto courses such as animal care, which did not correspond with their interests. Without any work experience, individuals had a lack of knowledge of their own capabilities and what job(s) they wanted to do’ This-Ability Easy Read Report 2022.pdf

Structured work experience is a valuable opportunity for all young people entering the labour market for the first time, even more so for a disabled person. Work experience offers opportunity to explore the workplace, find out what reasonable adjustments are needed and understand employer expectations. Disabled people have additional considerations to make when looking for employment. We have found that not all young disabled job seekers are aware of their right to reasonable adjustments, and many are not aware of what adjustments they may need and how to ask for them confidently in the interview/induction processes.

Limitations of the Disability Confident Scheme and the lack of tangible support available for employers.

As a Disability Confident Leader HLC recognises the value in the scheme. We have used our leader status to influence and support other businesses to adopt inclusive recruitment processes. Being lead partner on the This-Ability programme we are in a good position to do this as have the experience and resources to do so. However, we are in a unique position and realise very few businesses have the capacity and resource to do this.

The lack of services and resources available to support employers has a negative impact on the job market for disabled people. Employers often require support and reassurance to make reasonable adjustments, create an accessible work environment and understand how a person’s disability or health condition may affect them at work.

Through our work with employers, we have noticed there is an appetite to be disability confident, but a hesitancy to sign up to the scheme. Since 2016 we have worked strategically with DWP to increase the number of Disability Confident employers in our area using events, working groups and networks. Despite this, employers were still reluctant to sign up to the programme. We explored this further with the employers we work with on the This-Ability programme and found that reluctance came from the perceived expectations of the Disability Confident Scheme. We found confidence came through reassurance, from adopting inclusive processes, through workforce disability awareness training. They valued the hands-on support over the Disability Confident status.

‘To keep up with an ever-evolving society and business landscape, promoting equality is becoming higher on business agendas. To give our managers confidence leading a diverse workforce, we relied on the expertise and experience of This-Ability.

This-Ability delivered an informative, interactive and innovative workshop to around 50 of our employees in a management role, providing them with the tools to make reasonable adjustments, promote equality and avoid discrimination’ HR lead, Hull

Due to having a son who is diagnosed with Aspergers I have always had an interest in Neurodiversity in the workplace and I was thrilled when the company agreed for this training to go ahead, but I was also worried that others may not find it interesting or they would not find it beneficial to them. My worries were not justified, all reports I have received from my fellow colleagues have been positive and seem to have opened the minds for some who would never otherwise have thought about this subject. It has also given many the confidence to be able to offer the best training when working with people who may see the world differently and given them the confidence to make reasonable adjustment when and where required. All in all, this has been a great experience and beneficial for xxxxx and its employees, and has helped to educated our employees so that they can build a better working environment for those who may have difficulties when starting a new job’. Factory Manager Hull

Andrew Papacaoullas speaks about the benefits of employer support. [3]

Access to Work

Access to work has helped several young people gain aids they need to help them in work once they have gained paid employment. We have found that getting tangible items such as travel costs or adapted office equipment is much easier than getting a person in work support, like a supported employment mentor for someone who has a learning difficulty or disability. This can be a timely process as it requires for someone to be available in the area.

The service only being available for people are who in paid employment often proves problematic for disabled people. Work experience and volunteering allows a disabled person to explore the workplace and learn to use their equipment in the workplace. For example. If a person is sight impaired and requires a package such as JAWS, they need time to learn how to navigate that software before they feel confident in applying for a role. This has been a large barrier for our learners.

Disability Employment Advisors also face challenges here as Access to Work team members work centrally and not in localities which makes resolving issues a lengthy process. An example of this is explained by a learner here.

‘I had JAWS funded by access to work as part of my Kickstart work placement with Humberside police. I am registered severely sight impaired so this is an essential part of making sure I can access work to be completed. By the time JAWS was funded and the training was organised my placement only had one week to go so this impacted on the skills I was able to show the placement.

Since finishing the work placement I have struggled to find work so I have decided to volunteer to give me more work experience and hopefully find employment however even though JAWS has been purchased for my use we have really struggled to be able to share the details with the company that I will be volunteering with, I feel frustrated as I can’t show my skills without the software and if I can’t show them what I am capable of I’m unlikely to be offered paid work.

Apprenticeships and Careers Guidance

HLC are currently working with young people from the Hull area to explore why young people are not accessing apprenticeship opportunities in the area; the findings and solutions will be published in early 2024 by the Youth Futures Foundation. Below is some of the preliminary thoughts on how young disabled feel about accessing apprenticeships.

• There is a lack of tailored careers support for young people with disabilities or poor mental health. Young people felt were advised to do what that they can do rather that what they want to do, these options did not include apprenticeships or employment.
• Young people felt worried about disclosing disabilities or health conditions through fear of being discriminated against.
• Young people felt their needs would not be met in the workplace.
• The above challenges impacted on young people’s mental health and motivation to look for work.
• The GCSE entry requirements are sometimes difficult for a person who learns differently to achieve.

Through our work at HLC we have found that investing time in supporting businesses to have the confidence to be an accessible employer significantly increases the opportunities for young people disabilities. The Disability Confident scheme is a valuable tool in assessing  how accessible a business is, however, employers need mentoring support to gain confidence to train staff, make reasonable adjustments and recruit inclusively. If this was a part of the Disability Confident/Access to work offer, we feel, opportunities for disabled people would be improved. This coupled with the ability to apply for access to work for work experience and voluntary positions would make the labour market more accessible, applicants would be more experienced and understand their strengths and adjustments required.

The challenges around employers within the apprenticeship offer lie largely in young people’s perceptions of how they are viewed by employers. Again, employers offering apprenticeships lack support in offering accessible placements, leaving limited options for young disabled people who would like to do an apprenticeship.  However, this wouldn’t negate the issue around entry requirements. The curriculum currently is not designed to work for everyone. Significant changes are required to ensure that playing field is level for young disabled applicants. Because a person is unable to reach a certain academic level, it doesn’t mean they can’t be a carpenter a hair stylist or a chef.

September 2023