Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities do not face stigma when applying for employment.

On the 2^nd April, DWP launched a new review, led by Rt Hon Sir Robert Buckland KC MP, that will explore ways to increase the number of autistic people in employment. One area of focus in the review is understanding the working practices or initiatives that can reduce stigma and improve the productivity of autistic employees. Whilst the review focuses specifically on autistic people, many of the issues and solutions are likely to be similar for other young people with SEND, and they will also benefit from the recommendations the review will bring forward.

The Disability Confident scheme supports employers to make the most of the talents disabled people of all ages can bring to the workplace. It provides employers with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop, disabled people in the workplace. It aims to challenge the stigmas of what it means to employ a disabled person and encourages employers to think differently about disability and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace. This is in addition to DWP providing employment support to employers and young people with SEND to overcome barriers to employment. This support includes:

• The Access to Work (AtW) scheme: which supports disabled people who have the most significant barriers to employment. DWP are delivering a series of AtW Adjustments Passport pilots in a variety of settings that will enable us to gain an understanding on whether a passport can support a more coherent journey of adjustment support. This includes testing an Adjustments Passport for people transitioning from education to employment.
• Access to Work Plus (AtW+): which asks employers to think differently about their vacancies and consider if they can adapt, shape or flex job roles to enable a disabled person to retain, return, or move into, employment. The AtW+ pilot will help us to understand whether the introduction of new support beyond the existing Access to Work scheme, would enable disabled people with high in-work support needs, take up employment.
• Youth Employability Coaches (YECs), part of the DWP Youth Offer: help young people overcome barriers to employment such as homelessness, addiction, and other complex needs, as well as offering 6 weeks of in-work support once they move into work. YECs work closely alongside Disability Employment Advisors to support those with disabilities and health conditions. They also link with partner organisations who can provide specialist advice.

The Department for Education are investing c£18 million until 2025 to build capacity and level up quality in the Supported Internships Programme and double the number of internships to support more young people with SEND into employment. This includes grant funding to all local authorities and support and training to strengthen the quality of their supported internship offers, alongside activities to engage employers and support them to host interns.

To ensure that employers are supported to create new apprenticeship opportunities, the Department for Education provide targeted financial support directly to training providers to help remove barriers and stigmas for people with a learning difficulty or disability. Employers could receive £1,000 towards the costs of workplace support when they take on an apprentice aged 16-18 or 19-25 with an Education, Health, and Care Plan, as well as help to cover the extra costs working individuals may have because of their disability through the DWP’s Access to Work scheme. Improvements have also been made to the Find an Apprenticeship service to allow people to identify Disability Confident employers offering opportunities.