Work Choices & Work Programme
This new programmed takes forward changes to the Specialist Disability Employment Provision and will replace the existing DWP programmers of:
- Work Preparation
- Work step
- Job Introduction Scheme
The aim is to provide a tailored coherent range of specialist employment services which can respond flexibly to the individual needs of disabled people and employers.
Work Choice is a specialist provision that supports unemployed jobseekers with disabilities, which will replace several existing DWP initiatives, including Work step and Work Preparation. The new contracts are due to run for five years, commencing in October 2010.
The Government is reaffirming their clear commitment to disabled people by launching a new programmed to provide support for severely disabled people. The new programmed, currently called Work Choice will be introduced from 25 October 2010. It will sit alongside the Work Programme and will help into work disabled people who face the most complex and long-term barriers to employment and who may require high intensity support in the workplace. Able Learning will be partnerhing up on the Work Choices contract as a Tier 3 Supply Chain Partner to Shaw Trust, to deliver specialized training programmes.
The DWP is seeking views from customer representative organizations to help it develop the new Work Programme.
The Work Programme is part of the radical reforms the Government has announced for the welfare to work system.
The Work Programme will be an integrated package of support and personalized help for a wide range of customers – from jobseeker’s allowance recipients who have been out of work for some time, to customers who may previously have been receiving incapacity benefits for many years.
The Department for Work and Pensions is looking to establish a framework agreement for the provision of employment related services. We believe that we can provide the best specialised service by working in partnership with other, like-minded companies. Who will be bidding to become a main provider who will be delivering the Work Programme services within the Yorkshire and Humber area? Able Learning has centres located in Hull, Grimsby and Scunthorpe, so we are able to deliver End to End services, accredited training programmes and Enterprise for a target audience of customers who are disadvantaged or customers who need our specialised training programmes delivering locally and nationally.
People with learning disabilities are entitled to the same aspirations and life chances as other people. This is the vision and expectation which the Government first set out in Valuing People in 2001. But although we have made real progress, there is still a lot to do – and that is why we are restating our commitment to leading change to transform people’s lives and opportunities. This Government is determined to deliver equality and independent living for all disabled people, as we made clear in our cross-Government report, improving the Life Chances of Disabled People in 2005. Moreover, we recognise that people with learning disabilities are among the groups most often excluded from society. That is why we have made it a priority across government to support more people with learning disabilities into real jobs and settled homes
Extract from the Government Strategy 2009 - Valuing People Now: a new three-year strategy for people with learning disabilities ‘Making it happen for everyone’
