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BASE update

14th December 2009

Update from BASE about recent developments and training opportunties that will be availalbe over the coming weeks.

Mental health employment strategy published

The Government has published the long awaited employment strategy for people with mental health needs as a series of four documents was launched in London today in a cross-Government initiative. Working our Way to Better Health is a Great Britain-wide strategy addressing wellbeing at work for all and better employment results for people with mental health conditions both in and out of work. Also published was Realising Ambitions: Better employment support for people with mental health conditions, Rachel Perkins' review of how to strengthen employment, health and wider state support to help unemployed people with mental health conditions.

A third document, Work, Recovery and Inclusion, specifically addresses the employment needs of people in contact with secondary mental health services in England. It forms part of the Government response to the Perkins Review. Finally, New Horizons: A shared vision for mental health is a wider report that sets out a new approach to improving people's quality of life and improving the quality and accessibility of services for people with mental health needs.

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Valuing Employment Now

The Valuing Employment Now team are to produce a best practice resource pack for local authorities and others. We want to collate some examples of good practice with a view to inclusion in this resource pack. I am deliberately not asking for best practice as that seems to discourage people from sending in examples. We will be issuing a template shortly and I’d like to encourage all members to send in at least one example of good practice so that we can show the good work that’s currently happening in the UK. Please have a think, with your staff teams, about any areas of work that you would like to highlight. Although the strategy applies only to England, there is no reason why examples can’t show good practice from across the UK.

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Evaluation of Access to Work

• DWP has published an evaluation of the Access to Work programme. The evaluation has three elements:
• an overall evaluation of AtW, the core evaluation;
• an exploration of the effects of the decision that ministerial government departments (MGD) should pay for their own in-work support, previously paid for by AtW;
• a consideration of employment support (including AtW provision) within Inpidual Budget pilot (IBP) areas.

The core evaluation found that there was a low awareness of Access to Work amongst customers, employers and even Jobcentre Plus staff and that many found out about it by accident. There was general satisfaction with the application and assessment processes, though some customers with more complex needs were less satisfied. Customers who applied for support workers or travel to work support were the most satisfied with outcomes and those who applied for one-off support were the most likely to face problems. Accessto Work had a positive impact on productivity, improved wellbeing and reduced sickness rates.

The second report looks at the use of Access to Work funds in inpidual budgets. The report found few examples of take-up of Access to Work alongside Inpidual Budgets. As a result, the research team was not able to look at the alignment model in practice. Interestingly, low take-up was attributed to a low take-up of Inpidual Budgets, and the funds being unsuitable for people looking for work. The research found low understanding of Access to Work, and its alignment with Inpidual Budgets, amongst Inpidual Budget staff. The report calls for Jobcentre Plus to be more proactive in engaging staff within Inpidual Budget teams.

The third report looked at the changes to using Access to Work within ministerial Government departments (MGDs). The report found that most employees knew about the changes and the same amount of in-work support was offered following the change. Many Human Resources leads in MGDs felt that they had little time to design and implement systems to manage the change in funding arrangements and struggled to find out which employees were affected. Assessments were carried out by occupational Health, specialist assessors or a mixture though specialist assessments were favoured. There were some concerns about the consistency of decision making regarding applications for support.

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DWP Work Choice provider forum subgroup minutes

Minutes of the recent DWP Provider Forum subgroup on Work Choice are now available on the member pages. More...

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Government publishes response to the Right to Control consultation

The Government has published its response to the Right to Control consultation. Right to Control aims to give people choice and control over the services they use to access employment by combining funding streams to form inpidual budgets. BASE submitted its views to the consultation and organised two consultation events for members. More...

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BASE gives evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee

BASE attended the Work and Pensions Committee yesterday and gave evidence to their enquiry into the management and administration of contracted employment provision. The hearing is available to view on video. More...

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BASE supports new customer charter

BASE has signalled its support for the new customer charter, Our Shared Promise on Customer Care, launched by Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, on 25 November. Our Shared Promise was developed by ERSA, the Employment Related Services Association, and is supported by the Department for Work and Pensions, including Jobcentre Plus, the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) and BASE. I have attached a copy of Our Shared Promise for your attention. It is intended to be a minimum guarantee to customers and members will probably be keen to build on the commitments contained within it. It is a good opportunity to look at how we encourage the involvement of customers and gain useful feedback to continually improve our services.

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Ofsted consults on inspection of DWP programmes

Ofsted is reviewing arrangements for the inspection of the Department for Work and Pensions contracted employment provision to ensure that they are coherent and well matched to the needs of the user. This consultation outlines how Ofsted proposes to develop and use the Common Inspection Framework to focus on improvement in Department for Work and Pensions contracted employment provision and to ensure inspections for providers who offer a range of contracts are coherent. The closing date for the consultation is 29 January 2010. BASE will be responding to the consultation and is keen to hear the views of members.  More...

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Training in Systematic Instruction

We now have only two places available on the Training in Systematic Instruction course at Salford on 1-4 February 2010. We are exploring the possibility of running this 4 day course in other parts of the country and would welcome expressions of interest so that we can gauge demand. We would be grateful if you could indicate how many places you might be interested in for future courses and whether you might be able to host a course. A host venue would need the availability of three rooms around 20 x 20 feet in size. Please direct any queries to Fred at fred.bowen@base-uk.org

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Disability Legislation & Employment Law

15 December 2009 - IBIS Hotel, Birmingham B5 4ST
7 January 2010 - County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL
We still have a small number of places available for the Birmingham course. This course aims to improve your understanding of disability legislation and the application of employment law. Attending the course will help practitioners to act effectively on behalf of customers experiencing difficulties in the workplace. Brochure and booking form

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Foundation in Supported Employment now accredited

Ruth Twine's course for job coaches has now been renamed as the Foundation in Supported Employment. The course has been accredited at level 3 and future courses will be certificated. Details of her next course are available on our training page. More...

Regards, Huw

Huw Davies
Chief Executive
British Association for Supported Employment

Office. 01204 880733

Mobile. 07946 537286

For more information about BASE, please visit www.base-uk.org

The British Association for Supported Employment is registered as a company in England. Company Reg: 05794990.

Registered address: Unit 4, 200 Bury Road, Tottington, Lancashire BL8 3DX