South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) – Written evidence (YDP0052)
Call for Evidence Submission
Led by South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) is a formal partnership which brings together the local authorities of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield. The organisation plays an important role in the region, shaping policy and leading on decision-making to create a stronger, greener, fairer South Yorkshire.
The organisation was previously Sheffield City Region, formed in 2008, but was later evolved into the Local Enterprise Partnership in 2010 before it formed into a combined authority in 2014. The election for the first Mayor followed in 2018, and South Yorkshire’s Devolution Deal was signed into law in 2020.
We are responsible for delivering several skills and employment schemes across the region such as Working Win, which supports people who have a health condition to find and stay in employment through supportive programmes. Other examples include Skills Bank, Multiply, and Skills Bootcamp. Our Adult Education Budget is the largest funding stream in the realm of skills and employment, and this delivers a range of part and fully funded programmes for those aged 19+ across South Yorkshire. We also have South Yorkshire Careers Hub as part of the Careers and Enterprise Company, which delivers careers information, education, advice, and guidance.
Economic inactivity is a big issue in South Yorkshire. Our role in improving skills and employment for all residents in the region is critical and is why we have responded to this call for evidence.
Young disabled people face many barriers as they transition from education to employment, such as stigmas held by employers. Unfortunately, the barriers and inequalities they face into employment are replicated in their experiences accessing other public services, particularly in healthcare. The issues young disabled people have in accessing healthcare and employment are intertwined and has led to higher rates of mental health issues and economic inactivity within this group.
Overall, young disabled people do not have the same opportunities as others throughout their education journey, so specialist support is needed to offer them a fair chance into employment. Support schemes need to have a high level of flexibility for them to work successfully with young disabled people, as every individual will have different needs and abilities. Doncaster Deaf Trust provides an example of best practice in the region through its Communication Specialist College and Aspire to Be scheme, which is an adult specialist employability and skills service.
However, an issue across the region is the communication of this support. It needs to be made clearer and more comprehendible to those who need to access it as many fall through the system because they are unaware of the support available. Having a more ‘one-stop-shop’ approach would be beneficial so organisations across the regions, such as SYMCA, can coordinate support and make the process easier for young disabled people.
Stigma and a misunderstanding amongst employers are two of the main barriers for young disabled people entering the job market. A lack of understanding around the reality of employing people with disabilities means employers are often unaware of the benefits of having a more diverse workforce.
Another barrier is around recruitment and selection processes. Across most forms of employment, recruitment procedures are robust and create a stressful environment which is particularly challenging for those with neurodiversity disabilities. There are examples of neurodiverse young people in the region who have excelled in academia, receiving first class honours degrees but when put in a typical interview setting, they are unable to articulate themselves in a way that is required by an interview process. More work needs to be done on how employers should adapt recruitment processes to make people with neurodiversity disabilities feel more comfortable in interviews.
The barriers and inequalities experienced by young disabled people into employment are also replicated in their experiences accessing other public services. Accessing healthcare, particularly for mental health, can be problematic for young people with disabilities. Parents/carers often struggle to get the right support for their children. The system itself acts as a barrier as many find the process difficult to understand which makes finding the right support for the child challenging. Yet when parents/carers do request support, they tend to be faced with long waiting lists. For example, the waiting list for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service is often over a year.
With these barriers to healthcare, it is an unfortunate reality that this leads to higher rates of mental health issues and suicide amongst those living with a disability. For example, 1% of the population have autism yet autistic people make up 11% of suicides. Furthermore, 1 in 6 people (age 6 upwards) have a mental health problem yet 54% of people with a learning difficulty have a mental health problem.
All these barriers are intertwined. If individuals with disabilities get the right level of support via healthcare services, they are far more likely to be economically active and gain employment. Vice versa, good health, community inclusion, independence can enhance the likelihood of a disabled person gaining and retaining employment.
Support for young disabled people in mainstream schools is often much less effective than the support received at specialist support schools and education providers. Individuals who work at a specialist employability and skills service tend to find that young disabled people are not given the same opportunities in mainstream education because the focus is often on getting them the bare minimum qualifications.
Generally, engaging young people in employability is something that is lacking across the education system as it is only something that tends to come up at the end of an individual’s education journey. 16+ education providers should not be the main providers of this; employability should have a role throughout a young person’s education journey, which would particularly benefit those with a disability.
This is not to say education should not be the focus, but that education providers who work successfully with young disabled people are extremely flexible in the support they provide as some students will need educational support more than others, whereas others will benefit more from an employment focus.
Doncaster’s Deaf Trust is an example of how young disabled people are successfully supported into the workforce and since the beginning of the academic year (1 August 2023) SYMCA is providing funding for the Trust.
Part of the Trust is Aspire to Be. This is an adult specialist employability and skills service which provides simulated work environments (warehouse, hotel suite, kitchen/ café etc.), to help students familiarise themselves with the work environment and prepares them for employment in their chosen area. They are an outcome-based provision which seeks to take the pressure off education by using an industry non- accredited award system. Support is also provided for self-development, helping individuals to build confidence and motivation. Last year, 60% of their service users gained employment, which is above the national average for this support.
Alongside this service is Doncaster’s Communication Specialist College, which works closely and flexibly with students and employers. Unlike mainstream colleges, they ensure bespoke timetabling for each student depending on the needs and ability of the young person. It also allows their work experience, which is often done in their second or third year, to be unique to them. The college has a strong focus on the transition process, as historically young people would be upskilled for work but never find employment.
As the college focuses on communication disabilities, for example people who are neurodiverse, it is important that they make the transition as smooth as possible. For example, transition is part of their timetables, students do compatibility tests with their transition coordinator, placements are done close to home, and more. This focus on transition is has proven to be vital for young disabled people’s move to employment as 100% of students that were expected to go to work experience did so in last year’s cohort.
However, an issue in the region is how this support is communicated. This barrier is partly affected by disabled people shying away from these services due to previous negative experiences in education. But there is an issue around awareness of support services such as these, particularly because there are various routes of support out there. Even within local government there are various teams with different funding pots covering similar areas which makes it complicated for those trying to provide the support. More could be done to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach making support for young disabled people better targeted and coordinated.
Experiences from Doncaster Deaf Trust suggest employers are becoming more open to working with young disabled people. Last academic year, the college worked with 45 employers and provided awareness courses to each of these employers based on the student’s disability to create a better experience for both the student and the employers. During Covid, the college continued to work with employers who would provide briefs for the students to complete as part of their work experience so they could continue their studies through the pandemic.
However, not all employers are open to working with young disabled people, as suggested earlier when discussing the barriers into employment. But even if employers are open to working with people with disabilities, many don’t know how best to engage them, hence why training or awareness courses can be beneficial.
The college tends to work with SMEs and find they are better suited to taking on students; however, as many of these companies suffered during the pandemic, many are now taking on fewer students than usual. Aspire to Be, however, does work with some larger companies, such as Premier Inn, and have found since the pandemic that employers have been more open to working with them. This could suggest the issue of recruitment in today’s labour might favour young disabled people in the future. What is required is the tailored support and communication to unlock this potential.
20 September 2023