Jobs for people with learning disabilities

Find out how the Office for Disability Issues is working with government departments to secure paid employment for people with learning disabilities

In England, only 6.4 per cent of people with moderate to severe learning disabilities known to adult social services are in paid employment (NHS Information Centre, Social Care and Mental Health Indicators from the National Indicator Set, England 2009-10, August 2010). This is far lower than the employment rate for all disabled people (47.4 per cent) and the working age population in England (77.3 per cent) (Labour Force Survey, quarter 2, 2009).

What is the Office for Disability Issues doing to improve employment prospects for disabled people?

The Office for Disability Issues (ODI) is working with the Valuing Employment Now team, based in the Department of Health, and other government departments on a number of projects which attempt to address this issue, including:

Project Search, which helps people with learning disabilities secure and keep permanent jobs through a series of work rotations with a host employer
Getting a Life, which aims to identify and tackle the issues young people with learning disabilities face when they leave education so they can get a job and enjoy a full life
Jobs First, a one-year project with six demonstration sites in England. Three of these sites are co-located with Right to Control Trailblazers. Each site will work with twenty people with moderate and severe learning disabilities, who will use their individual budget to pay for the support they need to help them get a paid job. Information on the Jobs First project will appear on this website soon.

These projects coordinate the work of departments and agencies across government and locally to help achieve positive outcomes for disabled people.

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Beyond the Office for Disability Issues

Valuing Employment Now resources at the Department of Health website

Page last reviewed: 04 November 2010