People living with health conditions and disabilities in Dumfries and Galloway will receive help to get into and sustain work, through new employment support services which launch next month.
From April 1, 2017 in one of the first exercises of devolved powers under the Scotland Act 2016, the Scottish Government will deliver one year transitional services to up to 4,800 people.
People in Dumfries and Galloway are being encouraged to find out if they are eligible for the new services – Work Able Scotland and Work First Scotland – by contacting their local Jobcentre Plus.
Employability Minister Jamie Hepburn said:
“The devolution of employment support services is a real opportunity to make Scotland fairer. By making them voluntary we are putting dignity and respect at the heart of our support so that participants are not under threat of benefit sanctions through their involvement with our new services. We want them to be seen as an opportunity and not a threat.
“We recognise that some people living in Dumfries and Galloway may have different needs to people living in other parts of Scotland, that is why we have made a commitment to making sure our services are tailored to local issues, and are fairer and simpler for people to access.
“These arrangements come ahead of the full programme of support which will be available in 2018 and we will be listening to people who use the services so we can continue to make improvements to our new and Scottish approach to employability.”
Background
Through the transitional arrangements the £5 million Work Able Scotland service will support up to 1,500 people with health conditions into work and will be delivered locally by Progress Scotland, The Wise Group and Remploy. http://news.gov.scot/news/employment-support
The £14 million Work First Scotland service will be delivered by The Shaw Trust, Momentum Scotland and Remploy to support up to 3,300 people with disabilities into work. Click Here for more info.
The Invitation to Tender for the delivery of 2018 services is now live.
