1. Care Barriers to Employment and Training in the South West Workshop by Nigel Tremlett for South West Employment and Skills Forum 8 th January 2004

2. Purpose of workshop  To inform you about the research and its progress to date; and  To help to fill gaps in the secondary source data so far identified, by: - Identifying further research, data, sources of information, etc; and/or - Discussing appropriate means of collecting “missing” information via primary research

3. Research Objectives  To map carers in different age bands and types  To map legislation, funding and initiatives  To identify gaps in policy and provision acting as barriers to; - Carers’ participation in employment in training - Employers’ recruitment of carers - Advice and guidance providers’ support for carers - Public, private and voluntary sector training providers’ support for carers

4. Research Phases 1.Interim report - Highlighting early findings for each objective - Identifying gaps in available information 2.Full reports - A full report for each of the 6 objectives - Identifying findings at regional and sub- regional level and highlighting good practice 3.Dissemination - Sub-regional workshops - Regional conference

5. Research into the Barriers to Employment and Training for Carers Training providersEmployment National legislation European legislation Carers (By age: <19, 20-45, 46-64, 65+ years) (By type of care: Children/Elderly/Disabled/Others) Regional/sub-regional policies and programmes Advice & guidanceTraining providersEmployment

6. Main analysis categories  Carer type: - Young - Elderly - Disabled - Others  Carer age: - > 19 - 20-45 - 46-65 - 65+  Carer sub-region: - South West LLSC areas

7. Workshop Part 2 (Some of) The Gaps And The Possible Solutions

8. Gap 1: Barriers to Carers’ Engagement in Employment, Training and Education  Reasonable range of secondary sources available - Some quantitative information at national level, but mostly qualitative - No differentiation by age, type or sub-region - Most reports cover employment – few on training or education: these are major two gaps  Proposed means of filling gap: qualitative - Three focus groups with 8-10 carers at each - One each for employment, training & education - Cross-section of carers (by type and age)

9. Gap 2: Barriers to Employers’ Recruitment of Carers  Reasonable secondary sources available - Some quantitative information at sub-regional level (LSCs employers surveys) - Some at national level - Some case study information available - Still a few gaps – primarily around “difficult” issue of why employers chose not to recruit carers  Proposed means of filling gap: qualitative - Two focus groups with 8-10 employers at each - One for those already employing carers and one for employers not already employing carers - Cross-section of employers

10. Gap 3: Barriers to Information, Advice and Guidance Providers’ Support for Carers  Narrow range of secondary sources available - A new report from IES is due shortly covering IAG providers perspective - Limited information on carers’ views or examples of good practice  Proposed means of filling gap: qualitative - Incorporate into carers’ focus groups for gap 1 - Collecting missing information from carers’ perspective of barriers to IAG support

11. Gap 4: Barriers to Public, Private and Voluntary Training Providers’ Support for Carers  Limited range of secondary sources available - Focus of most research is from carers perspective – little from perspective of providers - Some examples of good practice, but often at very localised level  Proposed means of filling gap: quantitative - Telephone survey of all 49 FE/HE providers in SW - Collecting data on;  Perceived barriers  Opinions on removing barriers  Facilities available to enable carers to participate