Department of Health and Social Care
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NEW INITIATIVE OFFERS SUPPORT INTO WORK FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES
A new pilot scheme – Jobs First – will support people with learning disabilities to find paid jobs Care Services Minister Phil Hope announced today.
Since 2007, people with learning disabilities have had the right to choose what care they receive and pay for it with a personal budget. Jobs First will help them use this money to get the support they need to move towards lasting employment.
Less than 10 per cent of adults with learning disabilities known to councils in England are in paid employment, which can lead them to greater disadvantage and social exclusion.
Care Services Minister Phil Hope said:
“Being employed offers many benefits both to your pocket and in giving you a sense of independence. I’ve met many people with learning disabilities who would love the chance to get a job but too often they find it incredibly hard to overcome the barriers they face. Personal budgets allow them to get the tailored job support they need.
“This pilot scheme sets out to show how this can be done so that many more people with learning disabilities can get real jobs and careers. I’m confident that this initiative will help us improve the effectiveness of support across the country.”
The pilot scheme will run in seven local authority areas in England for 12 months. The areas are:
Essex County CouncilOldham CouncilLeicester City CouncilLondon Borough of NewhamHerefordshire CouncilNorth Tyneside CouncilNorthamptonshire County Council
Each pilot site will develop its own model for providing extra support to people with learning disabilities. Jobs First will evaluate the effectiveness of each and share the evidence with local authorities across the country to help them use existing resources more effectively.
Jobs First (formerly called ‘support broker’) is one of the demonstration projects set out in Valuing Employment Now, the ambitious cross-government strategy to radically increase the number of people with learning disabilities in work by 2025.
Jobs First will be closely aligned with Right to Control, an initiative run by the Office for Disability Issues, which aims to give disabled people more power to decide how they live their lives.
Notes to Editors
1. For further information on Valuing Employment Now please see:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_101401
2. For information on the Right to Control (Office for Disability
Issues initiative) please see:
www.odi.gov.uk/right-to-control
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk
