There is an opportunity to transform the life chances of people with disabilities or long-term conditions in Scotland.
An introduction from our CEO
Welcome to the new SUSE website. Over the past few months our team have been working with developers to refresh the look, feel and content of the site and we hope you’re happy with the changes we have made.
It was time for an update as SUSE is moving on to new and exciting phase. In the next couple of months we will be launching our new three-year strategy which will continue our work to make the charity sustainable and more responsive to the needs of our members, stakeholders and disabled jobseekers.
This is a time of profound change in the employability landscape in Scotland and the economy. There are opportunities to push forward our agenda and make real progress towards our shared goal of significantly reducing the Disability Employment Gap. We will be sharing more of our plan soon but as you’re probably aware this will include the further roll-out of Inclusive Workplace Award which has been taken up by a number of employers and launching the pilot phase of the Quality Standard in Supported Employment for Scotland which we have been developing.
SUSE will continue to lead the Apt Disability Employment Gap Public Social Partnership for the next year, during which time it will continue to provide vital services for employers who wish to build their capacity to attract, recruit and support disabled people. A major focus will be measuring the impact and the changes we are achieving with these forward thinking employers. We will also be talking about how the PSP can be sustained and will be looking for new opportunities to bring in resources to expand our work as we build towards the PSP partners’ shared ambition to create a Centre of Excellence for Scotland.
Later this year will also see the publication of the Scottish Government’s review into Supported Employment and we will be working with our members to ensure that this leads to the expansion and improvement of the services across the country that disabled people need and deserve. It is now more important than ever that our voices are heard, so If you haven’t already done so I hope you will join SUSE and work with us to put Supported Employment at the heart of the employability offer in Scotland.
Scotland needs an organisation that not only advocates for jobseekers who have disabilities or long-term conditions, but also creates a space for practitioners to come together to learn, share and develop. There is a lot of work to do with employers, funders and policy makers to promote the supported employment model and our members need resources to continually improve how they work.
If you haven’t already done so I hope you will join SUSE and work with us to put supported employment at the heart of the employability offer in Scotland.
David Cameron
Chief Executive Officer
SUSE
