Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures are in place to provide support to students with learning difficulties after they leave full-time education.

The Government is strongly committed to increasing opportunities for people with learning difficulties or learning disabilities. Taking a life course approach, we are working across Government and with local authorities, voluntary organisations and employers in the public and private sectors to achieve this. Examples of measures include:

• Local authorities have a statutory duty to prepare all children and young people with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan for adulthood. From year 9 onwards the four Preparation for Adulthood outcomes (employment, health, independent living and friends, relationships and community) must be included in the EHC plan annual review. A young person must not leave education without all four outcomes being carefully reviewed to support transition into adult life.

• The Government is funding specialist training for careers advisers working with young people who have special educational needs and disabilities. We are also funding training and materials for post-16 providers on curriculum design and delivery, including pathways to employment for these young people. The National Careers Service is delivering positive outcomes for people from all backgrounds and customers with a disability are included in the Service’s priority groups. In the past year the Service has seen over 90,000 customers with a disability or learning difficulty. In 2016-17 more than 20% of customers declared that they had a learning difficulty and/or disability (source: Ipsos MORI).

• In 2016/17, over 500 young people took part in Supported Internships, which are aimed at those with EHC plans. On 30 November 2017, the Department for Education announced a further £9.7 million funding in 2017-18 to establish local supported internship forums, which will create work placements for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Access to Work can be used to fund support from a specialist job coach for individuals undertaking supported internships.

• The Department for Education (DfE) has set a measure of success for a 20% increase in the proportion of apprenticeship starts by people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities by 2020. To support this, it has introduced legislation to adjust the minimum English and maths requirements for apprenticeships for a defined group of people with a learning difficulty or disability to entry level 3.

• 200 Community Partners are being recruited to Jobcentre Plus, to enhance the services Jobcentres provide to people with a disability or health condition. Community Partners have a lived experience or expert knowledge of disability and provide valuable insight into how disability can effect an individual’s employment outcomes, both in terms of securing and sustaining employment. Many of the Community Partners will have a specialism and 11 will be specialists in learning disabilities and neurodiverse conditions.

• A Local Supported Employment Proof of Concept is being delivered with 9 local authorities. DWP is investing £2.7 million to test an approach which delivers Supported Employment, on an outcome-payment basis, to help people with a learning disability or learning difficulties who are known to adult social care, or those in contact with secondary mental health services.

• On Thursday 30 November 2017 we published ‘Improving Lives the Future of Work, Health and Disability’, which sets out details of our lifecourse approach to improving employment opportunities for people with learning difficulties or learning disabilities.