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BASE response to "Every Child Achieving and Thriving" SEND White Paper

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 16:05:00 GMT

“Every Child Achieving and Thriving” – February 2026

The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) welcomes the publication of the Government’s SEND reforms White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, and the accompanying consultation SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First. The White Paper rightly recognises that too many children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are being failed by inconsistent systems, late intervention and poor preparation for adulthood, including employment. We commend the explicit emphasis within the document that life outcomes, including employment, and its recognition that inconsistent preparation for adulthood is a systemic weakness that must be addressed for reform to succeed.

Employment as a core outcome, not an add‑on

For many years, BASE and its members have highlighted that employment too often sits at the margins of SEND planning, rather than at its heart. We therefore strongly welcome the White Paper’s clear statement that SEND reform must support young people to lead productive adult lives, with employment recognised as a central outcome alongside education, health and wellbeing.

This aligns closely with the SEND Code of Practice’s Preparing for Adulthood duties and reinforces the principle that employment should be planned for early, ambitiously and consistently, not deferred until education ends.

Stronger transitions into adulthood and work

BASE supports the White Paper’s focus on strengthening transitions, particularly at post‑16 and post‑19 stages. Too many young people with SEND experience a cliff‑edge as they leave education, losing momentum, support and opportunity at precisely the point where pathways into work should be strongest.

The proposals to improve data‑sharing, clarify accountability for transitions, and strengthen continuity of support across education, health and other systems are positive steps forward. For these reforms to deliver real impact, employment pathways must be embedded within transition planning as a matter of course and quality measurements must include Employment as a core measure of success.

Evidence‑based pathways must sit at the centre of reform

The White Paper repeatedly emphasises the need for evidence‑based practice and a shift away from process‑driven systems towards outcomes that genuinely change lives. BASE strongly supports this direction.

There is a robust national and international evidence base demonstrating that Supported Employment, including Supported Internships, is highly effective in supporting young people with SEND—particularly those with learning disabilities and autism—into sustained paid employment. These approaches exemplify the “what works” principle the White Paper champions and must be treated as core delivery mechanisms, not optional enhancements.

Joined‑up systems are essential

BASE welcomes the White Paper’s clear acknowledgement that fragmentation between education, health, care and wider systems has undermined outcomes for young people with SEND. The commitment to improved integration and clearer accountability reflects long‑standing calls from the Supported Employment sector for joined‑up pathways into work, rather than parallel systems that leave young people and families navigating gaps alone.

We note the importance of alignment with wider government initiatives, including the Youth Guarantee, and stress that young people with SEND must be explicitly included and supported through evidence‑based pathways within these programmes, rather than assumed to benefit from generic approaches.

Quality, consistency and ambition matter

BASE welcomes the White Paper’s ambition to reduce postcode lotteries and improve consistency across the SEND system. However, consistency must be matched with quality and ambition. Low expectations remain one of the most significant barriers facing young people with SEND who want to work.

We therefore encourage the Government to ensure that implementation:

Promotes high‑quality, fidelity‑based Supported Employment practice

Invests in workforce development and specialist expertise

Measures success by sustained employment outcomes, not participation alone

What must happen next

BASE welcomes the direction of travel set out in the White Paper. To ensure these reforms deliver for young people with SEND who want to work, we believe the following are essential:

Embed employment as a key component of success within Ofsted, from Early Years through to Adulthood. A future where employment is possible must be accessible to every young person with SEND

Recognise and commission Supported Employment and Supported Internships as primary transition‑to‑work pathways.

Support and hold local systems accountable for delivering ambitious, employment‑focused transitions.

Meaningfully involve young people with lived experience in shaping implementation.

Invest in the workforce to ensure every young person with SEND has access to trained job coaches as a fundamental part of their support, delivered in collaboration with Supported Employment and embedded as a core element of the education offer rather than an optional extra.

BASE looks forward to engaging constructively with the consultation process and working with Government, partners and employers to ensure that SEND reform translates into real jobs, real careers and real inclusion for young people with SEND.

BASE welcomes the expansion of Connect to Work as part of the Get Britain Working strategy.

Thu, 9 Oct 2025 08:45:00 GMT

Nine further areas across England and over 40,000 more sick or disabled people will receive intensive employment support to move into secure, fulfilling work and out of poverty, as a result of £167.2 million extra funding to Connect to Work programme announced today.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said:

“Writing off people with long-term health conditions or disabilities fails them — and fails our economy"

"We are giving people a hand up, not a handout, realising their potential and providing them with the skills to succeed as part of our Plan for Change.

"Thanks to local areas hitting the ground running, it is already delivering results – proving that when we invest in people and communities, everyone wins."

BASE welcomes the Government’s commitment to tackling economic inactivity through the expansion of the Connect to Work programme, a key pillar of the Get Britain Working strategy. This investment recognises that good jobs and inclusive workplaces are central to national renewal.

The programme’s voluntary, high-fidelity Supported Employment model, rooted in local leadership and personalised support, is already delivering results. It’s proving that when we invest in people and communities, everyone wins.

BASE has long championed this evidence-based approach, built on high ambition, strong values, and the belief that everyone can work — with the right job, the right support, and the right workplace culture. We are thrilled to see the Government embracing this model and ensuring that efforts to Get Britain Working are truly inclusive.

This is not just about employment — it’s about dignity, purpose, and unlocking potential. We look forward to working with partners across the country to ensure this opportunity reaches those who need it most.

Read the full press release on GOV.UK [link is external ]

Why Values Matter in Supported Employment ; More Than Just a Model!

Employment support is not the same as Supported Employment

Why Values Matter in Supported Employment ; More Than Just a Model!

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 20:02:00 GMT

In anticipation of the workshop I'm co-delivering at the BASE 2025 Conference titled 'Place, Train, Maintain and Flourish: There’s No Such Thing as a Light-Touch Supported Employment Model' I thought now would be a good time to highlight some of the common misconceptions around what holistic support employment looks and sounds like.

We often refer to Supported Employment as a 5-stage model and it being a structured, evidence-based approach. Whilst the model and the evidence -base are very important, to truly understand the methodology and success of supported employment, we must dig deeper. We need to appreciate that it's not just about the why or even the how.
What's unique about supported employment is the values that underpin every interaction, every decision, and every outcome. The real magic of supported employment is demonstrated by the people who live and breathe these values, not just those who can write about them in bids.

Work Readiness: A Myth Worth Challenging
How many of us were truly “ready” for our first job?
Supported Employment rejects the idea that people must be perfectly prepared before they can begin. Instead, it’s about partnership — understanding personal barriers, unpicking motivation, and empowering people to pursue their own employment goals.
Work is not the end point — it’s the beginning of learning a role and workplace culture.

There’s No Such Thing as Supported Employment Light
The term “Supported Employment Light” is concerning. This isn’t a diluted concept. The closer we stay to model fidelity, the better the outcomes. When I worked frontline, what mattered most was how people experienced the service — disabled people, their families, and employers. It was about creating a space where people felt valued, where we worked in partnership, and where we did things with people, not to them.

Connect to Work: A Chance to Do Things Differently
If delivered with integrity, Connect to Work should not only look different from previous programmes — it should feel different.
✅ Built on inspiration, not mandates
✅ Driven by high aspiration, not creaming and parking
✅ Rooted in equal partnerships with employers, not transactions
This is not a criticism of past delivery — many organisations did their best within commissioning constraints. But if we want disabled, neurodivergent, and disadvantaged people to access good careers, we must lead with values.

Language Matters — And So Do Job Coaches
Language can tie us in knots. Understanding the terminology is vital.
- Zero rejection doesn’t mean forcing people to work, it means believing that anyone who wants to work should have the opportunity.
- Job coaches are not the same as work coaches. Both are valuable, but trained job coaches know how to build inclusion into every action. They’re solution-focused, transparent, and skilled at balancing the rights of the individual and the employer. Matching someone to a role isn’t transactional, it’s a continuous process. Job Coaches live, breathe, and display the values of Supported Employment at every stage.

Coming Soon: Language Myths Glossary
To support understanding, I’m developing a Language Myths Glossary — a resource to unpack common misconceptions and provide real-world examples. I'm looking for people to contribute and collaborate, so please drop your thoughts/ideas and your name in the comments below so we can dispel the myths about what we mean when talk about supported employment.

Laura Davis ,

BASE CEO

Book your place at the 2025 BASE Conference today!

Employment support is not the same as Supported Employment

Mon, 8 Sep 2025 20:24:00 GMT

In this article Julia Green, the National Chair of BASE and the Supported Employment Manager at North Northamptonshire Council, argues why employment support is not the same as supported employment.

Why The Distinction Matters

In a world where we continue to strive for accessible and inclusive recruitment pathways, diverse, talented, and representative workforces, and a focus on can and not can’t, employment support or supported employment absolutely makes sense, right?

And with only subtle differences between employment support and supported employment as headlines, what they deliver and how they must be really similar, right?

Supported Employment; A biography

Supported employment has a well-documented history and today within the sector those founded principles remain, with continued development and growth in the tried and tested 5 stage model of supported employment and in its quality fidelity, namely the supported employment quality framework, or SEQF for short.

Understanding what quality should and does look like is one of the key differences. Without quality measures and assurances people, providers, employers, and commissioners have no idea what ‘good’ is. Credibility is weakened and the risk of ‘any job’ over ‘the job’ increases and just any job is not supported employment.

Employment Support: A Parallel History

Provision for employment support has an equally tracked history and over the last 20 years Work Preparation, Work Step, Work Choice, and Supported Employment Services represent just some of that history. It is always interesting to see how, where and when we circle back to things that worked well but then changed.

I recently found myself describing place and train as being ‘do you remember the Work Preparation programme back in 2005, where we engaged quickly with employers and introduced work at a much earlier stage to place the person and then train them on the job’.

Place, train and the 5 stages of supported employment model create our foundation for delivery. Without one or either, supported employment does not exist and generic action plans, in work support calls, texts and check-ins just don’t make the supported employment grade.

Person-centred Practice: More than just a job

Supported employment is more than just the job. It is about really engaging with the person (stage 1), identifying through quality vocational profiles (stage 2) and job analysis (stage 3), everything that is important to the person, including circles of support, routines, learning styles, skills, and development goals.

It is about challenging the status quo of systems and processes, changing hearts and minds, educating, championing (employer engagement – stage 4), and creating opportunity for everything the person can do, with little or no focus on what they can’t. Job carving, job coaching, quality in work support (stage 5), and organic employer solutions are all absolute musts when it comes to quality supported employment.

Employer Engagement: The Non-Negotiable

Danger alert! Do not overlook or underestimate the importance of the employer, like ever. They are not just gatekeepers to jobs with endless resources, patience, knowledge and understanding and supported employment will not work without them. Employer engagement is about really, like really, considering business needs, pressures, aims, and ambitions and working with employers as partners to tailor, adapt, overcome barriers and identify solutions together.

Real-World Solutions: PPE, Interviews, and Accessibility

I recently accompanied one of my team to an initial employer meeting and was beyond proud to listen as they explained to the employer everything that we, as a provider, could offer them in terms of help, support, education, learning, practical resources… a solution-focussed listening ear.

The employer had constant and high numbers of vacancies, an absolute want to be inclusive, creative, and accessible, but were finding the balance between business, recruitment and staff needs a real struggle.

They explained how their work spaces required high levels of hygiene and process (lots of PPE – personal protective equipment - think blue hair nets, aprons, gloves and face covering and no make-up, no perfume rules), which led to in-depth discussions around solutions, including seam free PPE alternatives, to avoid irritation to people who may be sensitive to the feel of fabric and videos to show what PPE would look like so that people could prepare in advance.

Assisted interviews, providing questions in advance, the disadvantages of large and busy assessment days, simplifying language, rules, initial applications, inductions and processes. The ultimate automatic door, accessible to everybody regardless of why they might need to go through.

Removing Barriers: A £60 Lesson in Retention

During our meeting a call came through to the employer. A recently appointed staff member called to hand in their notice as they were unable to pay (upfront) the £2.50 per day bus fare (subsidised and dedicated work bus). Payday was 4 weeks away. The employer team simply looked at each other and then us and said, ‘we just need to remove this barrier don’t we’. At a cost of £60 they were able to retain a staff member, continue in their ambition to be a local employer of choice, prove their flexibility and commitment their team, tailored to the needs of the person. Sometimes the solution is that simple (and sometimes much more complicated or complex but don’t worry because that is exactly where supported employment teams come in!).

The Supported Employment Equation: Person + Provider + Employer = Quality outcomes through model fidelity and mutual trust.

Supported employment starts with the person and then the provider supports the person based on the 5-stage supported employment model, and the employer makes up the final third of the jigsaw, reassured by model fidelity that they know what good looks like and that they can trust in ‘good’. Right support for the right person at the right time and with the right employer.

Employment support is not supported employment. Right!

This article first appeared in IEP Journal #11

£338 Million Connect to Work Expansion

Thu, 4 Sep 2025 09:08:00 GMT

A new £338 million investment into the Connect to Work programme will deliver localised, tailored support to over 85,000 people who are sick, disabled or face complex barriers to work in 15 areas across England has been announced today (Thursday 4 September)

The scheme provides intensive, personalised help including individual coaching from employment specialists, job matching services, and ongoing support for both participants and employers to ensure sustainable employment outcomes.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:

For too long, millions of people have been denied the support they need to get back to health and back to work.

It’s bad for their living standards, it’s bad for their families, and it’s bad for the economy.

That’s why we’re taking decisive action by investing millions of pounds so sick or disabled people can overcome the barriers they face and move out of poverty and into good, secure jobs as part of our Plan for Change.

The expansion is backed by a £338 million cash injection with the largest interventions announced today including:

Up to £71.9 million for Central London Forward – supporting 16,800 people across the City of London.
Up to £47.1 million for the Local London Sub-Regional partnership – providing tailored support to 12,350 people across nine boroughs in east and outer London.
Up to £35.3 million for South Yorkshire – helping 9,950 participants across Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, and Doncaster into work.
Up to £30.7 million for Greater Essex – supporting 7,800 people across Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock, and Essex into good jobs.

Read full press release

We'd love your feedback!

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:58:00 GMT

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving how we connect with our members, we’re inviting you to share your thoughts on our communication channels. Whether it’s our newsletter, the online membership platform, or our regional meetings—we want to know what’s working well for you and where we can do better.

We’ve put together a short survey that should take no more than 3 minutes to complete. Your feedback will help shape how BASE engages with it's members and help us tailor our communications to meet members needs.

➡️ Click here to take the survey

🗓️Please complete the survey by Tuesday 30th September 2025

BASE/Inclusive Trading CIC are hiring!

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 09:51:00 GMT

WE ARE HIRING

BASE and Inclusive Trading CIC’s mission is to positively represent, connect and collaborate with our rich and diverse members and customers. To constantly champion an aspirational vision that everyone who wants to work has the right support to do so. We believe that careers must be for all.

We are a small but mighty team that continues to grow together as we continue to lead the way in developing and delivering quality workforce development solutions within the Supported Employment Community. As a result of our continued success we are now looking to grow our team to meet the increase in demand.

If you want to join a values-based organisation and help deliver our mission, are passionate about developing and maintaining relationships, ready to support the organisation at this important time of growth and happy to work remotely then we want to hear from you.

We are recruiting to the following role:

1 x Full-time Quality Manager

We believe passionately about being a strengths-based organisation and welcome applications from every part of the communities in which we serve, being able to work autonomously and the right values are more important than qualifications.

For an informal conversation please email to arrange a call contact: nerise.oldfield@base-uk.org

To apply the post, please submit your CV and a covering letter outlining how you meet the person specification for the Quality Manager and submit both to: admin@base-uk.org

Closing date: 5pm Tuesday 26th August 2025.

Interviews will take place w/c 15th September 2025

Download job description

Internship Work Programme Extended to 25/26 Academic Year

Thu, 29 May 2025 11:22:00 GMT

BASE/Inclusive Trading CIC are proud to be able to support the extension of the DfE’s Internships Work Programme for 2025/2026 year. We're looking forward to continuing to play a key role in the delivery of this successful programme in collaboration with our valued partners at NDTI and DFN Project SEARCH.

As part of this important initiative, our objectives will include:

1. Training 200 Supported Internship Job Coaches

We aim to deliver high-quality training in Supported Employment Techniques and/or Training in Systematic Instruction to 200 job coaches.

Due to limited availability, priority will be given to:

- Local authority areas that received limited training during the first three years of the programme
- Providers identified through SIQAF peer reviews as needing staff development
- Areas with newly established Supported Internship provision

To express interest in these courses please complete this application form

2. Delivering 60 SIQAF Peer Reviews

We will conduct 60 peer reviews using the Supported Internship Quality Assurance Framework (SIQAF). These reviews are designed to support continuous improvement and ensure high standards across Supported Internship provision.
To book a SIQAF peer review or learn more, we will be hosting regular Lunch and Learn sessions in the coming months. Subscribe to calendar updates on our website to be notified when new dates are added or send us an email

Access Resources and Further Information
For comprehensive resources and updates related to the Internships Work programme, please visit: Internships Work: Resources - NDTi

More information on the announcement

Thousands of youngsters with SEND to get more support in securing work experience - The Mirror

Reverse Job Fairs Lunch and Learn 19th Jan 2024

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:43:00 GMT

A really informative Lunch and Learn Session today on the topic of Hosting a Reverse Jobs Fair.

Emma Shepherd supplied lots of practical tips, shared some great ideas and has kindly shared her resources.

If you check the member-only resources section in your regional group you should find the following docs

Reverse Jobs Fair Presentation

Ten Tips for Hosting a Successful Reverse Jobs Fair

Reverse Jobs Fair Evaluation

Reverse Jobs Fair Job Seeker List

BASE response to the decision to downgrade the role of the Minister for Disabled

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 15:17:00 GMT

Statement issued 15th December

BASE and its members are dismayed by the Prime Minister’s decision to downgrade the role of Minister for Disabled People to a junior position within his cabinet.

Whilst we welcome Mim Davies commitment to “ensure there is always a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, while tearing down barriers so that every disabled person can realise their potential and thrive.” It’s hard to envisage how this can be achieved as part of a larger portfolio.

BASE is concerned that it will be harder to persuade employers of the huge benefits of becoming disability confident if this isn’t championed from the top. There is already a disconnect between those employers signed up to the disability confident scheme and those who actually employ disabled people.

With the launch of Universal Support, a dedicated Minister for Disabled People is more important than ever, to enable the National Disability Strategy to evolve from vision to reality.

Job of minister for disabled people downgraded - BBC News Coverage