NDTi confirms limited use of Personal Budgets to support disabled people to gain employment

New research conducted by partner organisation the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) has confirmed the limited use of social care Personal Budgets to support disabled people to gain or retain paid work and the reasons behind that.

The research, jointly funded by Think Local Act Personal, Remploy, In Control, Wolverhampton City Council, Northamptonshire County Council and NDTi aimed to find out the extent to which people are using social care PBs to purchase support into paid work, and what factors encourage and discourage the use of PBs to help people gain or retain paid work.

A national survey of employment support providers found that only a third of employment support providers had received any income from PBs in the past 18 months and the average number of people using PBs in each organisation was just three. Through the survey and in depth fieldwork in five sites, four clear factors that prevent or discourage greater use of PBs for employment support were identified: low demand from individuals or families; professional attitudes towards employment; the Personal Budget process; and availability of good, evidence-based employment support.

Rich Watts, Programme Lead at the NDTi said:

"Having a job has proven benefits for people, the communities they live in, and for the taxpayer. The new Care Act recognises this by stating work is a Local Authority well-being outcome. As a result, Local Authorities with social service responsibilities must ensure they focus on employment, and PBs are one way to achieve this."

In response to the findings from the research, NDTi has highlighted four areas that need attention:

• Improved information advice and guidance to help increase people and families' knowledge about and aspiration to achieve work by using PBs.
• Social workers and local authorities reviewing their approaches so that they recognise and give priority to paid work as an important social work outcome.
• Social work and PB assessments specifically considering work as an outcome, so that funding is identified for it through the RAS/PB process.
• Commissioners taking market development action to ensure there are evidence based employment services available for people to buy.