Completed Projects

Apt is a Public Social Partnership (PSP) funded by the Scottish Government, on a mission to reduce the Disability Employment Gap.

A PSP is a partnership of organisations that have chosen to work together to develop and deliver pilot projects, allowing for new ideas to be trialled and discover if they produce good results, in the case of Apt, more disabled people getting and retaining jobs.

Apt was the name of our PSP and SUSE was the lead partner.

During the 4 year project we engaged with 278 employers, training 1618 employees, working with 67 partner organisations.  The final Blueprint for Services was submitted to the Scottish Government in March 2024.

Apt as a brand for building the capacity of employers to recruit and retain disabled employees is very much alive!

Reduce the Gap
The PSP was a unique and forward-thinking initiative in the Scottish employability landscape. The aim was to contribute to the ambition set by the Scottish Government in The Fairer Scotland for Disabled People – Employment Action Plan, to half the Disability Employment Gap by 2038. We worked with employers in Scotland helping them to be better at attracting, recruiting and retaining disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

To learn more about the Apt PSP, click here. 

The PSP in Numbers – highlights from Sept 2020 to March 2023

In September 2021 we hosted the Apt PSP: The Story So Far event. This online celebration event showcased the PSP’s successes and achievements so far and was attended by over one hundred partners and stakeholders from all across Scotland. This event was hosted by our CEO David Cameron and included contributions from many individuals across the sector.

Read more about the event.

Glasgow City Council established a formal partnership with SUSE and Apt PSP  to design and deliver training sessions, guidance and materials to support employers to design and deliver training sessions, guidance and materials to support employers to address gaps in knowledge and expertise, improving the employment opportunities of disabled people and working towards a culture of change in our workplaces.

During 2023/24 Apt and our partners worked with the council’s economic development officers to identify and support 10 Glasgow employers and 100 of their employees, to engage disabled people in work.

Aims and objectives included the delivery of a wide range of online disability awareness sessions, establishing working relationships with employers by building on mutual trust, confidentiality and professionalism and agreeing an action plan to ensure more disabled people can engage in the workplace. Between September and December 2023, we delivered 18 fully-funded training courses for Glasgow-based employers.

Glasgow City Council have commissioned a second phase to the project which began in 2025. Find out more about Apt Glasgow.

Throughout 2023/24, we continued to work with Inverclyde Council to create better opportunities for young disabled people and support employers.

The Economic Development Department of Inverclyde Council commissioned SUSE to undertake a mapping exercise of employability services for young disabled people aged 16 – 24 in Inverclyde. A key part of the mapping we identified Supported Employment opportunities. Findings from the mapping will feed into the Community Regeneration Fund Steps 2 Progression Project which will support 200 young disabled people aged 16 – 24 towards employment. It will also help shape thinking on the Investment Plans which are required to access the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) over the next 3 years.

Part of our research into the employability services and supported employment provision involved focus groups to gather feedback from families  and from supported employment practitioners about Inverclyde’s current employment services which support young people with additional support needs into work.

The great news is that they’re taking forward one of our recommendations and developing a new Project Search service that will add significantly to the local offer for young people. There are also welcome developments with Supported Employment services that we had recommended should be expanded and strengthened.

There are already some great initiatives in the area but we found that there is a real demand for building the capacity of employers to help them become more inclusive and better able to recruit and retain disabled employees..

It has been a real pleasure to work with public sector and third sector partners who are committed to making a difference for the people we support. With a wide range of high quality employment and community services Inverclyde can be an example of how to create an environment where every person who wants to has the chance to become economically active.

Early Action to Sustain Employment
(E.A.S.E) Project

SUSE were awarded a grant to run a pilot project from the Health & Social Care Alliance Self-Management Fund.

The project, which was completed in October 2021, was delivered by SUSE in partnership with one of our members Values into Action Scotland

Aim of the Project

During 2020/2021, we tested what happens if people who have gone into work have a tool that allows them to assess their wellbeing, highlight what is working and what is not and have greater control over the support they receive.

EASE is a proof of concept project to develop a self-management tool for employees who have a disability or long term condition. For the moment we are calling the tool the EASE Grid.

How We Did This

• We recruited  24 people with disabilities or long term conditions who have entered employment (trecruited from SUSE member organisations).
• We developed a monthly self-assessment survey which the participants will complete at home or at work.
• The survey was sent to SUSE’s Membership Co-ordinator (Michelle Ramsay) who collated them and shared them with the person’s employment worker.
• We analysed the surveys to look for patterns and anything we can learn from them – to see if using the tool has made it easier for people to self-manage.
• We used the knowledge gained to develop a final version of the EASE Grid and we will produce a report on our findings.
• If we can demonstrate that the grid works we will look for further funding to develop a version of the tool as mobile phone app.

Recruiting Participants

In order to run the project we recruited 24 participants, with help from SUSE members to identify suitable candidates – people who have a disability or long term condition who had recently entered employment (past few months) or were doing so before the end of the year. This included any type of paid employment including supported businesses and social enterprises in any part of the country. The participants were trained to use the EASE Grid and supported throughout the 12 month period by VIAS staff. We ensured that suitable systems were in place to maintain privacy and confidentiality and we met appropriate costs.

We are pleased that in 2024 we secured further funding from The ALLIANCE Self Management Fund to develop EASE as an phone app. Find out more about the EASE App.

In 2019, SUSE completed an innovative project supported by the Workplace Equality Fund.

In partnership with 3 of our members, Hansel, Momentum Scotland and Values into Action Scotland we investigated the impact of the move to digital recruitment by private sector employers on job seekers with disabilities or long-term conditions.

The aims of this project were to:

• Research the extent to which the move to digital recruitment has created new barriers for disabled jobseekers
• Investigate employers’ awareness of and attitude to this issue.
• Investigate what (if any) reasonable adjustments employers are making to the digital recruitment process.
• Arrive at recommendations on how employers can improve how they recruit to make it more inclusive.
• Arrive at recommendations on how supported employment services can better support clients to navigate the demands of digital recruitment.

We anticipated the need need for a follow up project to support a wider group of employers who wish to make their recruitment processes more accessible for disabled applicants. This led to the creation of Digital Recruitment Reviews.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like any more information  – info@susescotland.scot
If you would like to read the report please click the link: Fair Chance Project Report (441 downloads) .

More Than the Sum of the Parts Project

SUSE was awarded a four year grant by the Big Lottery fund to support this project. Its overall aim was to promote the employment of disabled people by supporting a range of related activities which engage and support employers, provide additional support for disabled people looking to progress into or in the workplace, and enhance the capacity of SUSE member organisations. Specifically, it aimed to ensure:-

1. Employers will have increased skills, knowledge and feel more confident about employing disabled people and supported disabled employees.
2. More disabled people will have greater opportunities for work of their choice, and have moved into employment or retained employment.
3. Support employment agencies will have increased ability to progress economically inactive disabled people into sustainable careers.

The Big Lottery Fund grant began in August 2014 and supported project activity until the completion of the project in July 2018.

You can download the full Final Evaluation Report below.

MTSP SUSE Final Evaluation Report