The House of Lords Public Services Committee has published the report "Think Work First: the transition from education to work for young disabled people." This report follows an inquiry that was held last year which explored the barriers young Disabled people face when transitioning from education to employment.
Disability Rights UK submitted written and oral evidence to the inquiry which you can find on our website. Our evidence included platforming the voices of young Disabled people - as members of our Disabled Apprentice Network (DAN) met with the committee to share their experiences of school, training and work. DR UK's evidence is referred to several times in the committee's report.
The report explores a variety of topics, but the key takeaway is that policy makers and education providers must "think work first" if they are going to improve the transition from education to work. This includes ensuring support is put in place so we have equal access to our education, and joining up support so children don't fall through the cracks between public services. It also includes raising aspirations and challenging the discriminatory narrative that Disabled people can't succeed. The committee also explores the need for better careers advice and highlights the importance of co-producing policies with Disabled people.
Some of the key recommendations from the report include:
- "Co-production: It is vital that young disabled people – both those that are yet to leave education and those who have already made the transition – are able to be fully involved in helping to design and shape the services that support them.
- Vocational profiling: This is a particularly effective way of identifying a young disabled person’s aspirations from an early age and can help schools and colleges to put the right careers support in place from the start. The Committee believes the Government should make vocational profiling a standard part of careers information, advice and guidance for young disabled people in schools.
- Joined up support: The Government should work with local authorities to improve the availability of 'ready to work' programmes, such as that provided by ThinkForward, to support young people from school until they are settled in work.
- Supported internships: The new Government should honour the commitment of the previous Government to double the number of supported internships and take steps to make as many young disabled people as possible eligible for them: not just those with Education, Health and Care Plans. Internships should be particularly targeted at those with the highest support needs.
- Education: The Government must review and improve the support that young disabled people receive while in education, and it must also properly support local authorities to deliver EHCPs, both in terms of application timelines and the robustness of decision-making.
- Careers advice: Many of the young disabled people who spoke to the Committee highlighted the poor careers advice they had received, and the Committee heard evidence from several witnesses of a lack of a systemic, specialised approach to training careers advisers working with young disabled people. The Government should review the training that careers advisers and leaders are expected to receive, making in-depth special educational needs training mandatory."
The Chair of the Public Services Committee Baroness Morris of Yardley said “there are many excellent innovative schemes tackling the barriers that young disabled people face when trying to enter the workplace and helping them to make the transition from education to employment. However, we found that these are the exception rather than the rule and this has to change... This report provides a blueprint for the new Government to implement its commitment to getting more young disabled people into work. It highlights how to put in place appropriate support for young disabled people and employers so that the system is both cohesive and effective."
Bethany Bale, DR UK Education Campaigner, said "The evidence we submitted to the inquiry last year demonstrated how the current system fails young Disabled people at every stage. The odds are stacked against us long before we enter employment, yet we are made to believe that we're the problem. DR UK welcomes this report and appreciates the time the committee has taken to explore this complex issue. The Government must remove the systemic barriers that Disabled people face in education and work if they are committed to closing the disability employment gap."
The Public Services Committee have asked the Government for regular updates on their progress in meeting the report's recommendations, and they are expected to respond to the report.