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Implementing Inclusiveness Realising Potential

"I'm 32 and I've been in the centre since I was 16. I don't want to be in a training centre all my life until I'm in a box." [Man in Adult Resource Centre] "I've still got quite a long way to go but, once my training's finished, I'm hopefully going to look for a job and get something decent." [Young man in STN training provision] " Some customers ask for me now because they know that, if we have what they want, I am the one who will know where it is without having to spend hours searching in the stockroom." [Man in his 40s, in full time employment for 10 years after spending 10 years in a long stay hospital for adults with learning disabilities]

13. Employability and Employment

The Issue

13.1 In this report, we have made a number of proposals and recommendations on how to put an Inclusiveness approach into practice. We have recommended the establishment of new structures specifically targeted at improving the range of learning opportunities and support services available for young people. We have also recommended new policies and practices in guidance, further education and training. But for many of our young people, all of that effort will have failed if we cannot bring about changes and improvements to help them make the transition into employment.

13.2 The Committee believes that there are 2 main issues to be addressed:

• how to ensure that young people acquire the skills and attributes which will maximise their chances of gaining and maintaining employment; and
• how to ease the transition into employment for young people who face particular barriers arising from disability or social or educational disadvantage.

The Committee's View

Employability

13.3 In taking forward our consideration of these issues we found it helpful to consider the concept of employability. This concept has gained ground over recent years. There have been a number of attempts to define it. In 1997, The Minister of State for Employment, proposed a definition of "Employability" as:

"...building a workforce in which all people capable of working are encouraged, and helped to develop, throughout their working lives, the skills, knowledge and adaptability which will enable them to enter employment and stay in highly productive work, not necessarily with the same employer."

The CBI in their discussion document "In search of Employability" (CBI June 1998) defined employability as "the possession by an individual of the qualities and competences required to meet the changing needs of employers and customers and thereby help to realise his or her aspirations and potential in work."

13.4 More recently, the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) (November 1998) has suggested that employability is the capability to gain employment, to retain or to move on to new employment, at a level and quality to match the individual's abilities and skills. The other essential element is that the individual should be self sufficient in moving through the labour market. The IES suggested the following key elements of employability:

Assets: these are the knowledge, skills and attitudes which a person has.

Deployment: the ability and capability to use assets to gain and keep employment.

Presentation: the ability to demonstrate and "market" the assets: through CVs, references, interviews skills etc.

Context: the inter-relationship between labour market circumstances and personal circumstances.

13.5 The Committee has looked at these and other ideas about employability to see how they might work for young people who are likely to need support to make the transition into employment, and to sustain that employment. In our discussions, we have also been able to draw on a number of discussions with Scottish employers led by Scottish Business in the Community. The key themes which emerged from the Committee's consultation with employers were:

• There are problems for young people who, for whatever reason, have a bad reputation; or who live in an area with a bad reputation. Some employers are alleged to recruit by postcode;
• Employers should have access to incentive funding to assist them to take on young people with additional support needs;
• The influence of peer group pressures on young people i.e. the influence of peers who do not wish to work;
• The school curriculum is too academically focused and is not doing enough to prepare young people for life and the world of work. There should be more practical learning situations built into the curriculum and more work experience. Currently young people see no link between the school curriculum and their aspirations for employment;
• Training providers and colleges should spend more time on core skill areas;
• Young people in rural areas have more difficulty in getting access to employment because of transport issues. In many cases, young people will gravitate towards the nearest city or big town. This has particular problems for vulnerable young people;
• Employers tend to be less sympathetic to young people who have problems with attitude and motivation. Employers believe that young people should have a period of preparation for work to ensure that they are "job ready";
• Young people often have unrealistic expectations of the world of work and of wage levels.

Employability: The Employee

13.6 The emphasis in many definitions of employability is on what the potential employee can offer to the employer. This is usually expressed in terms of educational achievement and/or vocational qualifications and experience. For many, although by no means all, young people who have physical disabilities, sensory impairment or learning disabilities, their assets expressed in terms of qualifications may be limited. There may also be barriers to participation in employment arising from difficulties in communication and relating to other people. The great majority of young people who are described as "disaffected" or disadvantaged are likely to have a low level of educational attainment and, in some cases, may have poor basic skills, e.g. literacy and numeracy. They may also have emotional or behavioural problems that lead to difficulties in adapting to the behavioural requirements of the workplace. In terms of the IES framework, the level of employability among this spectrum of young people is low. In the former group, this is borne out by evidence that many will undergo a prolonged period in further education and training without, in many cases, ever attaining, or sustaining, employment. In the latter group, there is increasing evidence, especially among young men, of "scheme-hopping" from training programme to further education (and vice versa) and a rapid turnover of low paid, short term and low skilled jobs.

13.7 Qualifications are not the whole story. There is a growing body of evidence that employers are at least as interested - if not more so - in the attributes and personal qualities of young people. This applies particularly to young people who are not likely to have gained much work experience by virtue of their age. A project funded by Standard Life in 1993 and carried out by Castlecliff Training in Edinburgh looked at the requirements of employers. The conclusion was that while they regarded vocational qualifications as worthwhile, the main emphasis was on personal attributes, in particular willingness to learn, enthusiasm, honesty and reliability. An updated study in 1999 has produced similar findings. The Committee's own discussions with employers produced the following list of "core skills" and characteristics:

Numeracy

Literacy

Flexibility

Punctuality

Dependability

Positive Attitudes/Approach

Handling Conflict,

Interpersonal Skills

Working With People

Working in Teams, Presentation Skills

Social Skills.

13.8 A study of learning skills and aspirations of young people in Drumchapel by Glasgow Caledonian University (1999) highlighted the skills and attributes which the young people thought were important to employers. These included:

Hard working

Honesty

Timekeeping

Communication skills

Working in Teams

Practical Skills

These are similar to the skills and attributes favoured by employers.

13.9 These findings point to the need to take a wider perspective in education and training targeted towards employment. The Government is committed to supporting young people to achieve academic and vocational qualifications to the highest level of which they are capable. We support this commitment. It remains an important starting point for young people in gaining employment. In many cases, employers will use basic levels of qualifications as a filter before they actually interview young people. Beyond that, however, it seems irrefutable that young people need to develop the attributes and personal qualities which employers value in their future employees. For young people who face barriers to employment arising from disability, disadvantage, low educational attainment, social, emotional, behavioural and other problems it is at least equally important that further education and training provision is designed to help them develop the personal attributes and social skills which are valued by employers.

13.10 The Committee has identified the following areas for action to help young people improve their "assets" and the ability to deploy them in their search for employment:

• More and better dialogue between employers and education and training providers;
• More effort to change employers'attitudes and perceptions;
• More support mechanisms;
• More peer group support;
• Better targeting of further education and training towards the needs of employers.

Employability: The Employer

13.11 The other aspect of employability concerns the attitudes and employment practices of employers. These in turn are going to be influenced by prevailing labour market circumstances; the state of the economy; and the employment regulations and benefit rules. There is little doubt that when the economic climate is difficult employers are less likely to spend time or resources in recruiting and training new employees. This particularly affects young people who would require additional support to help them settle into the work place and become productive employees. Employers, in these circumstances, are more likely to recruit skilled and experienced workers or to rely on short-term contracts.

13.12 There are employers, however, who are prepared to take a wider view provided that they can find young people with the qualities and attributes that they consider important in an employee. Many employers would be willing to take young people with disabilities if they had a better understanding of the kind of aids and adaptations which are available. The Employment Service Disability Advisory Service can offer employers advice and support on employing people with disabilities. Support is also available from some voluntary organisations. For young people with learning disabilities there are ranges of support mechanisms available through supported employment programmes, including job coaching, to help them learn the job and settle into the work place.

13.13 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) provides limited, but nevertheless significant rights for disabled people in the areas of employment and access to goods, facilities, services and premises. These rights are enforceable through Employment Tribunals. From 1 December 1998, the employment provisions of the DDA have applied to employers with 15 or more employees.

13.14 We welcome the enhancement of the DDA information line to provide more focused information to employ people with disabilities. This could encourage smaller employers to employ disabled people even if they are not covered by the DDA. We also welcome the establishment of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) to work towards the elimination of discrimination. The DRC will provide information and advice to people with disabilities, employers and service providers.

13.15 The problems for employers taking on young people who have behavioural or attitudinal problems are different. Employers will have concerns about how to cope with young people who may be unreliable, poor timekeepers, and who have difficulty in relating to other members of the work force. These problems are more difficult for smaller employers in particular who may not have the time and resources necessary to support these young people. There may, however, be lessons to be learned from the strategies used in supported employment initiatives for disabled young people. It seems likely that they could be adapted to help support employers in recruiting and developing young people who are likely to experience difficulties because of social, emotional or behavioural problems.

13.16 There could also be scope to capitalise on the young person's own desire to have a job. We know from our focus group study and research how many young people have that single burning ambition. This is irrespective of the other circumstances in their lives. They may, as time goes on, become disillusioned by their failure to sustain employment. But in the initial years after leaving school there is an opportunity for employers, supported by other agencies, to make a real difference to the lives of these young people by providing them with a stable and secure working environment.

13.17 The Committee identified virtually the same areas for action (as for young people) in terms of promoting employability as it affected employers:

• More interaction between employers and the education and training sectors; employers need to be clear about what they need and/or want from young people;
• More support mechanisms for employers: job coaching, supported employment;
• Cash incentives to employers, e.g. subsidised wages;
• Targeting resources at advocacy (rather than directly to employers).

Action to improve employability

13.18 We need action to improve employability in:

• schools;
• assessment and guidance system;
• post-school education and training;
• support mechanisms for both young people and employers.

Schools

13.19 We warmly welcome recent developments in schools which are designed to help young people achieve a better understanding of the requirements of the workplace and to forge closer links between employers and the education system. The Education for Work agenda is designed to help young people gain a better understanding of the requirements of the workplace. In the autumn, new guidelines will be published which will enhance opportunities for work experience. Education Action Plans and New Community Schools will increase the flexibility available to head teachers to adapt the curriculum to the needs of their pupils.

13.20 We also welcome the introduction of the new National Qualifications under the Higher Still programme. In particular, the Access courses will improve the opportunities available to students who may experience difficulties in pursuing a higher level of course, at least initially, although some will be able to progress to higher levels over time. SOEID Circular 6/99 also allows schools to use Higher Still and other units from the National Qualifications portfolio in S3 and 4 for pupils who may find Standard Grades too demanding. We have highlighted the importance which employers place on the more personal skills and attributes, often referred to as 'core skills'. The Higher Still reforms will promote 5 Core Skills: Communication (written and oral), Numeracy, Problem-Solving, Information Technology and Working with Others. These will be directly relevant to the requirements of employers. The design of the Core Skills units would allow young people to undertake short courses (which they can also do in college). This could improve the motivation of disaffected young people by giving them a relatively quick result.

Guidance and Assessment

13.21 We have already highlighted in Chapter 7, the importance of including the 'soft' skills and attributes in the assessment of young people in the post-school environment. It may be helpful to make more explicit the link between these attributes and future employability. We, therefore, recommend that the assessment process should clearly identify the extent to which young people can demonstrate, and use, the 'core' skills and attributes (reliability, willingness to learn, enthusiasm, honesty) which are valued by employers.

Post-School Education and Training

13.22 It is also essential that there should be a range of post-school learning opportunities to help young people to develop the personal and social skills required by employers. The training programmes have a key role to play and, as we have discussed in Chapter 7, provide pre-vocational training which includes confidence building, job tasters, presentation skills, interview skills, CV preparation etc. The Progress File provides tools for this purpose. We believe that there is a need for a greater level of this kind of provision and a need to focus even more closely on helping young people to improve their self-esteem and motivation. This is an issue for both the enterprise networks and the FE sector. There is scope for further development in colleges to address this kind of learning need among young people who have low educational attainment, poor motivation and other social or behavioural problems. We also see scope for the FE sector to sub-contract with training providers to deliver key elements of pre-vocational training where they have particular expertise to offer. We, therefore, recommend that the enterprise networks in conjunction with training providers, should review their pre-vocational and life skills programmes; and that the SFEFC in conjunction with colleges, should examine the nature and scope of this kind of learning in the FE sector.

Support Mechanisms for Employers

13.23 There are examples of employers being actively involved in promoting employment opportunities, for example, the Lothian Employers Network on Disabilities. Careers service companies are also now working more directly with employers to make sure that they know about recent developments in education and training (for example, the introduction of Higher Still). Both the careers service and the Employment Service are also engaged in keeping employers informed about support available to assist with recruitment of disabled young people (and adults).

13.24 We believe that employers should have the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making about the nature and scope of education and training provision and how it prepares young people for employment. We, therefore, recommend that the Area Strategy Groups and Implementing Inclusiceness Teams should include employers.

Employment

13.25 We have considered the concept of employability and what it means for young people who might need additional support in terms of getting and keeping a job. In this section we are looking specifically at strategies and practical approaches for assisting both the young people and employers to ease transition into the world of work.

13.26 We believe that although the problems and barriers facing young people may be different for those who have disabilities and those who have low educational attainment and social disadvantage, there is scope for a common approach. Within that approach, however, the support given to the individual young person to help him/her into employment must be relevant and appropriate to the individual's needs, abilities and aspirations. We believe that the principle of "Inclusiveness" applies equally to this important transition for young people, as it does to their progress through education and training.

13.27 It is probably fair to say that there has been a greater emphasis to date on strategies to assist young people with disabilities into employment than on the needs of those who experience other forms of disadvantage. In saying that, we are aware that not all young disabled people have access to the same degree of support in practice. There is evidence to show that many young people experience prolonged transitions after leaving school, often resulting in exclusion from the labour market and continued dependence on their families. (Pearce & Hillman 1998). For young people with learning disabilities employment is not just a goal in itself, but is closely linked to independent living and adult status. However, in recent years, the employment prospects of young people with moderate learning disabilities have declined markedly. In 1986, only 5% of this group found employment on leaving school, compared to 80% in 1940. (Riddell et al 1997).

Supported Employment Programmes

13.28 One of the developments in recent years which has extended the opportunities for young people with learning disabilities and mental health problems is Supported Employment. There are a number of organisations that manage and deliver supported employment programmes but the main characteristics of Supported Employment are that it :

• is paid;
• is undertaken in an integrated setting;
• involves the same variety of work that is available to non- disabled people;
• requires flexible and varied support, with long term commitment.

13.29 The Employment Service operates a supported employment programme that was originally designed to help people with learning disabilities to enter employment. The key elements are:

• A negotiated wage subsidy to the employer;
• The employee receives the full wage but the employer's subsidy is based on the percentage of the job which the individual can do (the employee may be able to perform 80% of the task of the job and the subsidy will cover the remaining 20%);
• A managing organisation is normally appointed by the employment service and will provide ongoing support and guidance to both employee and employer.

13.30 This basic concept of supported employment has been developed and expanded by a number of organisations to support people with a variety of needs, including people with physical disabilities, sensory impairment and mental health problems. Organisations include the INTO work project in Glasgow, the National Autistic Society, Enable, the Royal National Institute for the Blind Specialist Support for Sensory Impairments and Jobs 4 All, which is a pilot for the New Deal for Disabled people. Real Jobs in Edinburgh acts as a recruitment agency specialising in working with people who have learning disabilities. In many cases, clients are referred to them from Resource Centres and there are close links with Social Work. The Employment Disability Unit in Dundee, which is funded by Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross Councils, has piloted supported employment programmes for people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and vocational rehabilitation needs. The key elements of the programme, which is tailored to the particular client groups, are:

• a vocational profile;
• identification of a suitable employer;
• employment negotiation;
• job coaching and support.

13.31 In supported employment programmes there is a team of support workers trained in Systematic Instruction (or similar techniques). The support worker goes into the workplace and learns the job, breaking it down into its key components. The support worker then uses systematic instruction to train the potential employee. The support worker will, if appropriate, accompany the individual into the workplace and offer support until the trainee is comfortable in the work environment and able to perform the work to an appropriate standard. Other aspects of the support worker's role included helping trainees in developing relationships with the other employees; and helping the other workers to understand both the needs of the disabled person and the abilities they bring to the job.

13.32 Where a person has physical disabilities or sensory impairment, a wide range of aids and equipment are available to adapt the workplace to meet their needs: a reader, support worker to help in the workplace or getting to work, or help with transport costs where public transport is unsuitable. The Disability Advisory Service (formally PACT) is operated by the Employment Service and is able to advise and assist with these and other forms of support.

13.33 There is evidence, however, that many employers do not know about the range of assistance available. Research conducted by the Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research (Riddell et al 1997) shows that demand for places on supported employment programmes exceeds supply. On the other hand, most adults with learning disabilities felt they were able to sustain employment with appropriate support. There seems to be a clear and pressing need to raise awareness among employers of the contributions which young people with disabilities can make to the workforce and, more importantly, to "market" the range of support services which are available.

13.34 The Employment Service is about to launch a public consultation to review the supported employment programme with a view to increasing the programme's capacity to promote the integration of disabled people into open employment. They are also proposing to set up "fast track" projects to develop and test new approaches to enable supported employees to move into open employment.

13.35 We believe that there could be considerable benefits for young people with additional support needs in promoting the growth of supported employment. We particularly welcome the success of the Union of Supported Employment in winning the bid to hold the European "Supported Employment Conference" in Edinburgh in the year 2001. Scotland has succeeded in attracting this conference because it has a good reputation in the field of supported employment. The Conference could give a real platform for an expansion of supported employment catering for a wide range of support needs across Scotland.

Support for Employers

13.36 Young people who have learning disabilities, sensory impairment or physical disabilities can offer skills and qualities which are relevant to employment. It is vital that we encourage and support employers to look beyond the disability of the young person and to see the whole individual who in many cases will already have acquired skills and who will have the ability to learn new skills. Individual young people will also be able to offer a high level of commitment and reliability in a supportive work environment.

13.37 It has to be acknowledged, however, that there will be concerns among employers about the reactions of their other workers to recruitment of a disabled young person. There have been a number of projects throughout Scotland and England that have promoted the integration of disabled people into the labour market through the HORIZON strand of the European Social Fund EMPLOYMENT initiative. HORIZON has supported 66 projects in Great Britain during 1995-1997. The range of employers involved covered a wide spectrum and the range of activities included awareness raising events, provision of informal links and on-going advice and information services.

13.38 The most successful projects included:

• Training for disabled workers which was customised to employers needs;
• A back-up service which gave employers on-going access to the expertise of a trained employee support worker;
• Access to financial incentives through the Access to Work programme which offers funding for adaptations to premises or equipment and through the subsidy of employee's wages under the Employment Services Supported Employment programme.

13.39 What is particularly interesting in these findings is that, where the project team could demonstrate that young people had the skills required by the employers, or could provide customised training to fill a vacant post, the employers responded positively. There must be a lesson here for all the agencies that promote employment for disabled people. Employers want workers who can do the job. If a young person can offer that, other problems may be more readily overcome.

13.40 Other important aspects of the HORIZON projects were:

• Work placement of disabled people with an employer for work trials or tasks;
• Advocacy - acting on behalf of disabled people in negotiating of training and employment; Encouragement to employers to improve recruitment and retention practices and activities to raise employment awareness of the abilities and skills of disabled people;
• Training for employers who are supporting disabled colleagues;
• Information and advice services.

As well as individual contact between an employer and a project member, there were group events to bring together groups of employers to raise awareness and offer information about the support services available.

13.41 There were a number of lessons identified through the HORIZON projects:

• Employers are well placed to judge whether a disabled trainee is ready for "employment". It is also important to try to avoid unsuitable placements which can damage relationships with employers;
• Getting the right match between job and trainee is vital. This requires a thorough assessment of both the job and the aptitudes and skills of the trainee. It also requires detailed briefing of the employer about the trainee's skills and abilities;
• Disabled trainees may need a longer induction period and possibly dedicated initial training;
• Support workers may need to support employers, co-workers and trainees through the early stages. There will have to be careful negotiations for the withdrawal of the support worker's assistance.

Social Firms

13.42 There is another developing model of employment creation for disabled people which may have the potential to address a range of issues for young people who have additional support needs. This is the concept of a Social Firm.

13.43 A Social Firm is a business created for the employment of people with a disability or other disadvantage in the labour market. A significant number of the employees, but not all, will be people from this group. The business is set up to function within the market place, providing goods or services in the same way as any other business but it also has a social objective. Every worker is paid the market rate or salary appropriate to the work whatever their productive capacity. At the same time, social firms offer opportunities for training and development and foster mutual support among employees.

13.44 There has been a rapid development of social firms in Italy and Germany in recent years. In Italy, the Government's reorganisation of mutual health services led to the development of social co-operatives in the late 1970s. Government support has now enabled 2000 co-operatives to be set up, employing 16,000 disabled people and with a turnover of £500 million. In Germany, there are 250 social firms, employing 5500 people, 3100 of whom are disabled. The German approach to supporting social firms is rather different. The Government fines private sector employers who fail to employ a specified number of disabled people and redistributes the money to organisations which create employment in social firms.

13.45 In the UK, there are now 20 social firms. Interest is growing and there are an estimated 60 projects currently in development. In Scotland, the Edinburgh Community Trust runs 4 businesses in different economic sectors (tourist accommodation, catering, laundry services and clothing production) and employs 66 people with mental health problems on a full or part-time basis. Unity Enterprise operates social enterprises as commercial companies offering work experience within a semi-commercial environment to young people and adults with additional support needs. One of the enterprises is a travel agency managed by professionals in the travel trade and offering training towards recognised vocational qualifications for people who have disabilities, low basic skills or social or behavioural problems.

13.46 We believe that the concept of social firms offers a positive approach to creating employment opportunities for young people who would require additional support to obtain and sustain employment. Many of the social firms currently in existence employ people with physical or learning disabilities, sensory impairment or mental health problems. We believe that the concept could also have a positive impact on the young people who are disadvantaged in the labour market because of low attainment, poor motivation, social, emotional or behavioural problems. The flexibility of full or part-time employment, opportunities for training, the "real" nature of the job and the benefits of mixing with other employees from a range of backgrounds would address many of the factors which make the transition to employment so difficult for so many young people.

The Benefit System

13.47 The Committee is aware that many organisations and individuals have serious concerns about the effect of employment on entitlements to welfare benefits under current benefits regulations. If, for example, an individual on Independent Living Allowance takes up employment and subsequently loses the job, he/she cannot resume ILA. Adults with learning disabilities living in residential care and carrying with them substantial funding for their care providers in terms of "preserved rights" cannot enter employment beyond the "therapeutic earnings " rules even if they only require low levels of support. This limits their hours of work and their potential to earn. The whole area of benefits is complex. It is also currently under review. It has not been possible to address benefits issues in sufficient detail to make any proposals. We recognise, however, that the agencies to which we are addressing our recommendations will have to consider how to work with the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency to achieve the best possible outcome for the young people.

The Way Ahead

13.48 The challenge for the Scottish Executive, the enterprise networks, the Employment Service and the business community is how to promote more widespread availability of this kind of support; and how to "market" it to employers. Many employers may be sympathetic to recruiting disabled employees but have serious concerns that there would be disproportionate time and costs incurred for training and on-going support. There are studies which show that disabled employees are reliable, and perform well and that they have less sick leave than the "average" employee. The difficulty is getting this message across.

13.49 The model of supported employment, with all its various strands, would seem to offer one way ahead. However at the moment, both access and take-up are relatively low. This implies that if more young people were able to get access to supported employment programmes there would be a significant rise in costs. In order to quantify these costs, it might be appropriate to carry out a survey of existing provision and the potential numbers of young people who might be able to benefit from expanded provision. However, it is interesting to note the experience of the ECHO and PEP projects in North Lanarkshire, managed by the Social Work Department and supported by the Lanarkshire Development Agency. The cost of supporting people into employment is estimated to be less than the cost of maintaining an individual in a social support or health care environment.

13.50 We also believe that there is an opportunity for Scotland to forge ahead in the creation of social firms. We believe that they offer a unique mix of social and economic benefits not just to the people who have additional support needs but to the whole community. In every sense, a social firm offers a 'real' job. That is what so many young people want.

13.51 It is our view that action to promote the creation and development of more employment opportunities for young people at a disadvantage in the open labour market should be taken forward at the highest level. We, therefore recommend that the proposed National Action Group should establish an Employment Forum. The members should be drawn from Scottish Business in the Community, Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, CBI, STUC, Small Business Federation, Scottish Further Education Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, COSLA, Employment Service, Benefits Agency, careers service companies and the voluntary sector. The Employment Forum should be charged with producing an action plan for increasing supported employment programmes and strategies for supporting the growth of social firms. As a first step, there should be a national survey of supported employment programmes to identify the best practice, looking at specific client groups and taking into account pilot projects which have been formally evaluated.

13.52 We also recommend that the Area Strategy Groups should work with employers and the local Employment Service and Benefits Agency to develop local arrangements for promoting and expanding supported employment programmes for young people.

Disaffected and Disadvantaged Young People

13.53 The principles and practices of supported employment and social firms - vocational profiles, assessment of skills and abilities, job matching, customised training, support worker service, financial incentives - would seem to be applicable to the needs of disaffected young people. We are aware, however, that employers may make a distinction in their attitude towards disabled young people and disaffected young people. They appear more willing to accept that disabled young people will be reliable, honest, well-motivated and willing to learn. There is clearly scepticism that disaffected young people would respond positively in the work environment, and that they may even be a disruptive influence.

13.54 The support needs of disaffected young people may be different in some respects from the needs of young people with learning disabilities or mental health problems. The support may have to be targeted towards confidence and motivation rather than learning the components of the job. Clearly, there would be costs attached to providing this kind of support. However, we have noted that the Treasury estimate of the cost of unemployment is £8,429 per person, per annum. We, therefore, recommend that the Employment Forum institutes a review of supported employment practices with a view to developing a model appropriate to young people whose problems arise from low educational attainment, lack of basic skills and poor motivation.

13.55 We have also considered another approach. We know that there are sympathetic employers who are willing to offer intensive support through job coaching, assistance with getting the young person to work and on-going confidence building. It may be possible to recruit some employers as "Champions" to share their experiences and highlight the benefits of making this kind of commitment. The National Training Organisations could play a part in developing this idea.

13.56 It may be more feasible to direct resources to towards work placements rather than direct entry into employment. A NTO could arrange a series of placements with committed employers who could form a mutual support network both for themselves and for the young people. This could become another form of mentoring. Mentoring could offer valuable support both to the employer and the young person. Employers could mentor young people and other employers. We also see value in peer group mentoring by young people who have come through the process and are in stable employment. Peer mentors could provide relevant support and a positive role model. The Make it Work mentoring project set up by Career Development Edinburgh and Lothians (CDEL), funded by the SOEID Challenge Fund, provided support for young people in the workplace. The target group included young people who had a history of job-hopping, and had low self-esteem and aspirations, a lack of motivation, attitudinal problems and poor work ethic. While the project highlighted problem areas e.g. the need for more access to the mentor, the overall evaluation showed a positive response from both young people and employers. SCONTO (The Scottish Organisation for National Training Organisations) could be asked to set up a "Champions" network to encourage and support this activity.

13.57 We, therefore recommend that NTOs should be asked to develop and promote the idea of employers as "Champions" of "disaffected" young people in the workplace. The Scottish Council of National Training Organisations should support and encourage this development by setting up a network and sharing good practice. This should include the idea of a mentoring network.

Summary of Recommendations

Employability

The Committee recommends that:

The assessment process should clearly identify the extent to which young people can demonstrate, and use, the 'core' skills and attributes (reliability, willingness to learn, enthusiasm, honesty) which are valued by employers. (Paragraph 13.21)

The enterprise networks in conjunction with training providers should review their pre-vocational and life skills programmes; and that the SFEFC in conjunction with colleges, should examine the nature and scope of this kind of learning in the FE sector. (Paragraph 13.22)

The Area Strategy Groups and Implementing Inclusiveness Teams should include employers. (Paragraph 13.24)

Employment

The proposed National Action Group should establish an Employment Forum. The members should be drawn from Scottish Business in the Community, Chambers of Commerce, Institute of Directors, CBI, STUC, Small Business Federation, Scottish Further Education Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, COSLA, Employment Service, Benefits Agency, careers service companies and the voluntary sector. The Employment Forum should be charged with producing an action plan for increasing supported employment programmes and strategies for supporting the growth of social firms. As a first step, there should be a national survey of supported employment programmes to draw together the best practice, looking at specific client groups as taking into account pilot projects which have been formally evaluated. (Paragraph 13.51)

The Area networks should work with employers and the local Employment Service and Benefits Agency to develop local arrangements for promoting and expanding supported employment programme for young people. (Paragraph 13.52)

The Employment Forum institute should a review of supported employment practices with a view to developing a model appropriate to young people whose problems arise from low educational attainment, lack of basic skills and poor motivation. (Paragraph 13.54)

NTOs should be asked to develop and promote the idea of employers as "Champions" of "disaffected" young people in the workplace. The Scottish Council of National Training Organisations should support and encourage this development by setting up a network and sharing good practice. This should include the idea of a mentoring network. (Paragraph 13.57)

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