To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning for his assessment of the availability of (i) supported employment opportunities; and (ii) suitable work experience placements for further education students with learning disabilities.

My Department, particularly through its Disability Employment Service (DES), has an excellent and long-standing working relationship with the Northern Ireland Union of Supported Employment (NIUSE) and its many member organisations. NIUSE is a pan disability umbrella organisation which promotes vocational training and supported employment for people with a full range of disabilities.

An active member of the European Union of Supported Employment for over 20 years, NIUSE is a leading advocate of the Supported Employment Model which is widely acknowledged as a model of best practice in terms of helping people with disabilities access paid jobs and providing them with the necessary supports to retain employment.

Working with many local and specialist disability organisations, my Department has consistently provided a comprehensive package of support measures aimed at helping people with disability related barriers into employment, including those people preparing for or moving into paid supported employment.

This range of specialist disability employment provision includes pre-employment programmes such as Work Connect, the Job Introduction Scheme and the Condition Management Programme (CMP), whilst medium to long term in-work support is available through the Workable and Access to Work programmes. DES also has a dedicated Occupational Psychology Service which offers an all age advice, guidance and assessment service in areas relating to disability and employment.

In addition, my Department currently supports 25 local disability employment projects through the European Social Fund (ESF), with 16 of these projects receiving further match funding from DES. The majority of these specialist projects are delivering the Supported Employment Model, and have set themselves challenging targets for moving people into paid employment during the next three years. Indeed, one of these projects, ‘Job Match’ is a partnership project between DES and Disability Action, and this has resulted in nine new Supported Employment Officers being recruited by the latter, with the sole purpose of securing and retaining paid employment for disabled people throughout Northern Ireland.

This project, like all of the other ESF projects, will be a cornerstone of the new ‘Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities’ which is due to launch in February 2016.

One of the key aims of the strategy is to provide a clear transitions pathway for young people with significant disability related barriers, to assist them in their pursuit of new skills, employment opportunities and career development.

Work experience placements are an integral part of certain mainstream and discrete Further Education (FE) provision. It is the responsibility of individual Colleges to arrange placements appropriate to the level and type of course undertaken by the students. Placements are undertaken in a range of occupational areas including; retail, hospitality, construction, hairdressing, business and IT.

Colleges often work in partnership with external disability organisations including MENCAP, the Cedar Foundation, and others, to help source placements and support students while on work experience.

Additionally, officials from DES have been working in partnership with the Further Education colleges in the Northern, Southern and North West regions, in order to increase the employment opportunities and outcomes for students in the Discrete Learning Units, most of whom have a learning disability or are on the autistic spectrum. This partnership approach commenced in 2012, and during this time, 62 young disabled people have secured paid employment.

DES staff have also worked with the disability sector on a number of ring-fenced recruitment exercises, with employers from various sectors over the past three years, resulting in paid jobs for people in a supported but totally inclusive working environment.

With the implementation of the new ‘Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities’ it is anticipated that this work can be replicated in the other regional colleges through the collaboration between DES, the college staff, Careers Service and the Supported Employment Officers from various disability organisations.

The Department’s Careers Service is an invaluable source of expertise and will contribute directly to the delivery of the new “Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities”. The Careers Advisers will partner with DES colleagues and other support workers to ensure that every young person with a disability who wishes to progress into further education, training and supported employment, will be supported through the transition process.