Westmorland and Furness Council is looking to open up more employment opportunities within the council for people with learning disabilities.
Across Westmorland and Furness, the rate of employment for people with a learning disability is 2.4 per cent – below the national average (5 per cent). This means almost all (above 97 per cent) of people with learning disabilities in Westmorland and Furness are unable to work.
In a bid to increase this figure, the council is launching a pilot project to explore how it can create meaningful work opportunities for people with a learning disability and ensure they have the right support to thrive as part of the council’s workforce. Staff in Adult Social Care have begun conversations with people who use their services, to hear about their experiences and their desire to find work.
The information gathered will help to inform a new approach to recruitment to better support people with additional needs. Rather than relying on traditional job advertisements, which can create barriers, the council is exploring a method known as job carving - which involves collaborating with jobseekers to identify tasks and responsibilities they can confidently take on, and then designing roles that meet both their strengths and the council’s needs.
Andrew from Kendal has a learning disability and works two hours a week at the Booths supermarket in Kirkby Lonsdale, helping pack bags at the checkouts. “I come here, Booths, every Thursday. I like customers. I like it, it's brilliant.”
Andrew’s boss is the store manager Aga Zoltak. “People often ask us why would you employ somebody with learning difficulties, and my question back would be, why not? He's a cheerful face, and we've got our local customers who know him who come every Thursday and have a great interaction with him, so he's adding to our company's purpose.”
Joel Burchett, Service Development Lead for Adult Social Care Workforce, emphasised that this is about meaningful employment, no tokenism. “I think part of what work brings to people is a sense of being useful and being able to contribute to society. The last thing we want is for people to come in and feel like they’re not doing a real job. The idea is no to create a token job that doesn’t achieve anything. It’s to achieve the aims of the council, but in a way that supports a wider group of people to be employed by us.”
The authority also recognises that the ageing population in Westmorland and Furness means the local labour market is shrinking, so finding ways to employ people who have not been served by the traditional recruitment processes will help to ensure the council has the workforce it needs for the future.
Cllr Patricia Bell, the Cabinet Member for Adult Care, believes this project has the potential to expand across the whole council, and change many lives. “Across the whole council we are committed to working alongside our communities and reaching out to everyone. We have started this process by doing just that, engaging with people with learning disabilities that we already support, and it is clear from these initial conversations that there is a real desire to find employment, and a positive response to the idea of removing the barrier of the traditional job advert and interview process. Many people have something to give the workplace, and by dividing up roles, we intend to create meaningful work for people with learning disabilities.”
The pilot project is for people with learning disabilities who meet the criteria under the Care Act for Adult Social Care services.
The data quoted is based on the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) measures. Nationally, the employment figure for people with learning disabilities is currently 5 per cent. In the Westmorland and Furness area, this figure is currently 2.43 per cent.