Supported employment: review report and Scottish Government response

Annex A Survey of Local Authorities

Background to this survey:

Our team at Social Finance is working with Scottish Government to map the delivery of supported employment by Scottish Local Authorities and the Third Sector. Supported employment is a way of providing assistance to people with a disability who need extra support to move towards and into paid work. This review was committed to by Scottish Government as part of Scotland's Learning Disability Strategy, The Keys to Life. Social Finance is a not-for-profit organisation, working to drive social change and improve services for vulnerable people. Our Health and Employment Team aims to ensure that all disabled people have an equal opportunity to thrive through lasting and fulfilling employment.

How you are helping us:

As part of this review, we want to engage with Local Authorities and employability providers in Scotland in order to:

Map the current provision of supported employment in Scotland; Understand the quality of current provision and any gaps; Make recommendations to improve supported employment in Scotland in the future.

In each instance, we are looking to understand provision beyond that offered by Fair Start Scotland.

This survey builds on a questionnaire shared by Scottish Government in 2019. Separate to this questionnaire we will also be undertaking in depth reviews of some services, facilitating semi-structured interviews with providers and holding focus groups with clients. Your answers to this survey will help us map out current provision, areas of gaps and shape recommendations to improve supported employment in Scotland going forward.

Questions:

1. On behalf of which Local Authority are you responding to this survey?

2. Does your Local Authority deliver or commission a supported employment service(s)?

3. Please provide a list of the organisation(s) who deliver supported employment services in your Local Authority.

4. Briefly describe the model(s) of supported employment offered in your Local Authority (e.g. the 5-stage supported employment model, DFN Project Search).

5. Please outline who can access supported employment in your area and any eligibility criteria applied (e.g. age, place of residence, type of support need(s)).

6. Approximately how many people access supported employment services in your Local Authority per year? (Please split by Fair Start Scotland and outside Fair Start Scotland where appropriate).

7. Approximately what funding is available per year for supported employment services in your Local Authority?

8. What are the sources of funding for these supported employment services? (e.g. core LG, ESF, Lottery).

9. Do you have data on the percentage of clients engaged in the programme who go on to secure paid employment within your Local Authority area?

10. If you answered "Yes" to Question 9, approximately what percentage of those engaged clients go on to secure paid employment within your Local Authority area?

11. Are you aware of any gaps in the supported employment offer in your Local Authority? If so, please provide a brief description.

12. We are keen to hear and understand client and employer feedback on supported employment Services. Do you have access to any data or feedback that you would be able to share with us?

13. I would be happy to be contacted by Social Finance to discuss my responses to this survey.

14. If you answered "Yes" to Question 12 or 13, please provide a point of contact. (e.g. email address).

15. Do you have any other comments about supported employment in your Local Authority?