Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Scott of Bybrook on 8 June (HL Deb, col 1312), what steps they are taking to prioritise, in addition to need assessment, the provision of specialist job coaches for people with learning disabilities.

The Department is committed to supporting claimants with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism move closer to the labour market or into work.

The increased number of work coaches will help the newly unemployed and also enable us to continue supporting those with complex needs, and to work with partners to ensure they get the help they need. People in particular disadvantaged groups will continue to benefit from support via the increased Flexible Support Fund and priority early access to the Work and Health Programme. In addition, claimants with learning disabilities are also able to access Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) if they are further from the labour market.

From April 2021, we have strengthened our Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) role to include delivering direct support to claimants who require additional work related support and advice above our core work coach offer. DEAs continue to support all work coaches to deliver tailored, personalised support to all claimants with a disability or health condition. Since May, we are increasing our DEA resource from 685 nationally with the aspiration to reach 1000.

We have a number of initiatives and schemes to support claimants with health conditions such as:

• Intensive Personalised Employment Support provision provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment.
• Access to Work is a demand-led discretionary grant scheme that provides funding for the extra disability-related costs people have when starting work or maintaining employment. It can also support disabled people on an apprenticeship, Department for Education supported internship or traineeship
• The Department delivered the Local Supported Employment Proof of Concept, run in partnership with 9 local authorities from November 2017 to May 2019. It was based on the “Place and Train” model of supported employment. This aimed to test whether the Department, in partnership with Local Authorities (LAs), could increase delivery of high-quality supported employment for people with a learning disability or autism who are known to adult social care, or those in contact with secondary mental health services. The proof of concept also aimed to help spread best practice among LAs. Following the successful proof of concept, the Department is looking to develop an area based trial with 20 LAs. The trial was paused because of the coronavirus pandemic
• Supported Internships are aimed at young people ability/autism who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and they usually last for 12 months. Support from a specialist job coach and other costs may be funded through Access to Work if necessary. Whilst the Department for Education lead on this the Department provides support through Access to Work funding
• Through the Disability Confident scheme, the Department is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with autism and associated conditions. Through the scheme, the Department is providing advice and support to help employers feel more confident about employing disabled people, by signposting them to appropriate advice guidance and support.
• The increased number of work coaches will help the newly unemployed and also enable us to continue supporting those with complex needs, and to work with partners to ensure they get the help they need
• People in particular disadvantaged groups will continue to benefit from support via the increased Flexible Support Fund and priority early access to the Work and Health Programme