Improving Lives: the Work, Health and Disability Green Paper.Written Evidence Submitted
Improving lives: the work, health and disability Green Paper.Written evidence submitted by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
17 February 2017
Table of contents.
Executive summary
Key messages
Main recommendations
Scope of our submission
Chapter 1: Tackling a significant inequality
Chapter 2: Supporting people into work
Chapter 3: Assessments for benefits
Chapter 4: Supporting employers
Chapter 5: Supporting employment through health and care
Chapter 6: Building a movement for change
Glossary of abbreviations
References
Executive summary
RNIB is the leading charity for blind and partially sighted people in the UK. RNIB’s Connect network is a growing community that brings together over 27,000 people across the UK affected by sight loss, including blind and partially sighted people, their friends, families and carers.
Part of our work is to deliver direct support and employment services to blind and partially sighted people seeking work.
We also provide support and advice to employers looking to recruit or retain someone with sight loss, as well those employment professionals supporting blind and partially sighted jobseekers.
We therefore welcome the opportunity to respond to this consultation.
In preparing this submission, we have worked with colleagues across Great Britain and Northern Ireland: including RNIB Scotland, RNIB Northern Ireland, RNIB Cymru, and Action for Blind People in England.
Mostly, though, we consulted extensively with blind and partially sighted people across the UK, through discussion groups, regional forums, various correspondence and access to individual consultation submissions.This powerful voice of blind and partially sighted people is directly quoted throughout this report.
Key messages
There are just over 84,000 registered blind and partially sighted people of working age in the UK [1]. However, only one in four of those are in employment, and this number is falling [2]. This figure is even worse for people who are completely blind. Only around one in 10 people with poor functional vision is in employment.
The disability employment gap for registered blind and partially sighted people is around double that for people with other disabilities, and this gap is widening.
Government policy and practice therefore needs to effect a sea-change in the proportionof blind and partially sighted people of working age achieving greater independence through paid employment.
In particular, Jobcentre Plus and contracted providers of the new Work and Health Programme should be held to account by including performance targets around supporting blind and partially sighted jobseekers, including those further from the labour market, into sustained employment.
A specialised, individual assessment is crucial in determining the needs of blind and partially sighted jobseekers, and should be able to equip Jobcentre Plus staff and contracted service providers with an accurate profile of their clients, based upon each individual’s particular skills, barriers and personal circumstances. A specialised assessment is therefore required, which is sensitive to the complex needs and circumstances of someone with sight loss.
Blind and partially sighted people looking for work need specialist support on their journey towards employment. Many are a long way from the labour market, and require a more resource intensive model of support than that currently offered for those who are actively seeking work.
In addition to barriers common with anyone out of work for a long period, blind and partially sighted jobseekers have specific needs related to their sight loss. Therefore employment support services and policies for disabled people need to reflect the complexity that blind and partially sighted people face, and should include:
- specialist employment programmes for blind and partially sighted people, providing increased numbers of job outcomes and retention rates
- improved referral routes to those specialist employment services for blind and partially sighted people
- increased availability of pre-employment support that meets the specific needs of blind and partially sighted jobseekers
- a fair assessment process that accurately identifies the needs of blind and partially sighted people.
Jobcentre Plus staff often lack sufficient knowledge about the particular needs of blind and partially sighted jobseekers, and can therefore be unable to deliver the specialist support required.
Fundamental changes therefore need to be made to the provision of employment support services that prioritisethose with the fewest barriers to employment, ahead of those with more complex problems such as sight loss.
Much has been made of the slight improvement in employment rates for disabled people and the general population over the last couple of years. Whilst the Labour Force Survey may well indicate a very slight increase for disabled people overall, the employment rate of blind and partially sighted people is much worse, and steadily falling. The disability employment gap, if you are living with sight loss, is widening.
The benefits system should encourage people to find work where this is a realistic prospect, whereas the current proposals - particularly around cutting support for those in the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work-Related Activity Group (WRAG) and Universal Credit (UC) equivalent - won't achieve this. Indeed, they set up new financial cliff edges and disincentives to engage in work-related activity.
For disabled people in work, the new arrangements through UC are markedly inferior to the predecessor benefits.
RNIB supports the Access to Work (ATW) scheme, and recognises its value in enabling blind and partially sighted people of working age stay in work and progress in their careers. However, that is not to say the scheme is not without fault.The message from our research (which we attach as supplementary evidence) is that ATW is an important scheme but which has many practical flaws that need fixing[18].
We would like to see improvements made to the ATW scheme to help overcome the significant challenges that blind and partially sighted people face in obtaining the equipment and support they need to start and retain employment.
There are two things which will lead to an overall improvement in employment levels for blind and partially sighted people:
- A strategy, with measurable targets and timescales, delivered with commitment and accountability.
- Investment. The Treasury may see this as expenditure, but it is in fact investment because there is a quantifiable return, achieving the goal of taking people offout-of-work benefits and delivering wider social impact.
For young people we need better educational outcomes, to challenge low expectations, and to improve career support. In particular where the Government is already investing, e.g. in apprenticeship support, then it should demand that employers improve on their disability recruitment and retention rates.
For older people considered 'fit for work' then their needs to be a contract to deliver a pathway into work. High quality bespoke support will be critical. It starts with a dialogue - what are my skills and interests, what employment is in reach, what employment could be in reach with further support and training? This is followed by support to transition into work, work experience/placements, and supported employment where workplace adjustments alone will not fully level the performance playing-field.
Main recommendations
1. Government policy and practice needs to effect a sea-change in the proportionof blind and partially sighted people of working age achieving greater independence through paid employment, since currently, only one in four registered blind and partially sighted people are in employment, and this number is falling.
2. Jobcentre Plus and contracted providers of the new Work and Health Programme should be held to account by including performance targets around supporting blind and partially sighted jobseekers, including those further from the labour market, into sustained employment.
3. A specialised employment assessment is required, which is sensitive to the complex needs and circumstances of blind and partially sighted jobseekers, to equip Jobcentre Plus staff and contracted service providers with an accurate profile of their clients, based upon each individual’s particular skills, barriers and personal circumstances.
4. Fundamental changes need to be made to the provision of employment support services that prioritise those with the fewest barriers to employment, ahead of those with more complex problems such as sight loss.
5. The projected removal of the Employment and Support Allowance Work-Related Activity Group addition (and Universal Credit equivalent) should be rescinded, so as to prevent hardship and severe disincentives to work-related activity.
6. All work-related activity engaged in by people in the ESA Support Group (and UC equivalent) should be voluntary.
7. In planning benefit changes, careful consideration should always be given to the interaction with employment policy for disabled people.
8. A strategy should be developed for promoting take-up of benefits for disabled people, both in and out of work.
9. We would like to see improvements made to the Access to Work scheme, to help overcome the significant challenges that blind and partially sighted people face in obtaining the equipment and support they need to start and retain employment.
10. A regular stakeholder forum should be established, to discuss and seek to resolve issues arising from the practical operation of Access to Work.
Scope of our submission
We welcome the opportunity that this green paper provides to highlight many of the issues faced by blind and partially sighted people looking for and staying in work. Not all of the consultation questions relate to areas in which we have experience or views. Therefore, although we have used the same headings as the Green Paper, we do not address every point within them. As noted above, it is particularly the experiences and perspectives of blind and partially sighted people that inform our comments.
Our response to the consultation questions follows.
Chapter 1: Tackling a significant inequality
Q: What innovative and evidence-based support are you already delivering to improve health andemployment outcomes for people in your community which you think could be replicated at scale?
Specialist interventions
1.1.Evidence suggests that those furthest from the labour market require specialist interventions in key areas [3]. RNIB delivers these via its network of national, regional and local services, including:
- developing assistive technology skills
- developing mobility skills
- developing skills to communicate their specific needs and required adjustments to employers
- making the most of residual vision
- pre-employment training programmes designed to meet the complex needs of blind and partially sighted people.
1.2.According to one of our supporters:
“One of the things about this transition from being benefits-reliant to being employment-reliant is that you can’t just make the leap. The one fact is that for visually impaired people, it’s got to be a very individual journey with a lot of incremental support.”
Into-work assessment
1.3.We have developed a comprehensive employment assessment model that takes account of the specific needs of blind and partially sighted jobseekers. It supports employment advisers and their clients to design interventions that help blind and partially sighted people on their path towards employment.
1.4.Blind and partially sighted people have explained to us:
“It’s about providing tailored support on a case-by-case basis.”
“There’s no one-size-fits-all solution.”
1.5.Our 'employment assessment toolkit' enables employment advisers, who work with blind and partially sighted people to gain a clear understanding of their clients' aspirations in relation to employment, and what types of support and development are required. It can be used by any provider working in the welfare to work industry that supports blind and partially sighted people.
Further information available here:
Work based assessments
1.6.For those blind and partially sighted people already in work, as well as people in work that are losing their sight, RNIB and Action for Blind People provide an innovative and comprehensive work-based assessment solution for employers. This includes:
- an unbiased work-based assessment acting upon referral from employer or occupational health provider
- advice on procurement of access technology equipment and software
- disability and sight loss awareness training for employers and employees
- end-user training in the use of recommended equipment or software
- advice on installation, configuration of access technology.
Further information available here:
/employmentassessments
Retention support in Northern Ireland
1.7.In addition to a work based assessment, the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland funds a specialist retention support programme called Workable NI. The programme allows RNIB NI employment staff to act as job coaches for employees with sight loss who have just started a new job or who are in an existing job, and are experiencing difficulties due to sight loss. Job coaching can be provided for up to two years on the programme but this can be extended after review.
1.8.The programme also provides guidance to employers over an extended period of time to help them to better support employees with sight loss. This is a Northern Ireland specific programme, but could be replicated elsewhere to increase job retention rates among people with sight loss.
Further information available here:
Work placements and RNIB's Trainee Grade Scheme
1.9.One of our most innovative and successful approaches to improving employment outcomes for blind and partially sighted people, and in doing so improving physical and mental health, is RNIB’s Trainee Grade Scheme (TGS) and Extending the Reach programme (ETR).
1.10.Both projects, initially funded by the Lottery, are highly successful pilots in supporting blind and partially sighted people into employment through the provision of 50 weeks’ paid employment within RNIB or through one our extensive network of employer partners. These are delivered in combination with skills development, and support progress into permanent paid employment from the very start of placements.
1.11.We want to build on these exemplar schemes, as our evidence shows that blind and partially sighted people need current and relevant work experience to demonstrate their capabilities to employers. This demonstration of capability, combined with increasing the individuals' knowledge and skills, produces job outcome levels of 70 per cent plus. This is unprecedented within this client group.
1.12.TGS arranges placements internally within RNIB and has employed around ten participants per year for a fifty week placement over the last decade.For 70 per cent of these blind and partially sighted people, their placement has led to a permanent position either with RNIB or with another employer.
1.13.ETRsecures employment opportunities for blind and partially sighted people with external employers. At the same time, ETR works with and supports these employers to ensure appropriate and accessible recruiting and employment practices.We have built up a network of over 1,000 employers through this programme and this will continue to grow.
1.14.ETR responds to evidence that employers don't feel able to offer roles to blind and partially sighted people [10]. It works closely with employers, improving their awareness, skills, confidence and preparedness to offer employment to blind and partially sighted people.
1.15.Our model addresses both sides of the employment equation by working with:
- blind and partially sighted people to increase their skill sets via providing on the job training and work experience matched to employment opportunities
- employers to change attitudes and misconceptions of employing blind and partially sighted people via providing training and support to recruit, employ and train blind and partially sighted people.
1.16.ETR provides the support people have identified they require,thus removing the barriers identified in numerous consultations, research reports and our own experience with developing and running our successful TGS.Evaluations of TGS show this approach works.
1.17.It achieves a high employment outcome rate of 70 per cent moving into employment which is significantly higher than RNIB's experience of New Deal for Disabled People which achieved an outcome rate of 25 per cent, or the Work Programme, which only helped 8 per cent of blind or partially sighted people into employment [11].
1.18.Feedback from both sides shows the appropriateness of the approach and includes:
"Without the scheme, I wouldn't have got the opportunity to gain 50 weeks’ work experience which is vital to future employment."
"I am absolutely positive that I would not have got the job without the experience and confidence I gained on TGS."
"I think the TGS is very effective in providing blind and partially sighted people with the experience and skills to succeed in a competitive working environment."