CALLS are being made for the Government to offer employers cash incentives to help people with learning disabilities in Worcestershire get a job.

It comes after Worcestershire County Council revealed how an in-house scheme to get them into work only has a six per cent success rate.

At County Hall there is a taxpayer-funded function called the 'Supported Employment Service' which matches people with learning disabilities with employers.

Under the Care Act there are 1,276 eligible service users, with increasing numbers being referred to it.

But the last published figure reveals how just 6.4 per cent of them are in paid work, a total of 81 adults with learning difficulties.

The chairman of the council's adult care overview and scrutiny panel has called the figure "shocking" and says ministers should consider incentives.

Lib Dem Councillor Tom Wells said: "I think it requires the Government to provide incentives, to help provide opportunity - because this is about employers as much as anything else.

"It strikes me that we're dealing with the tip of the iceberg here - the number shocked me, to be honest - six per cent is a very low figure.

"It requires national action, the Government needs to look at improving access to apprenticeships and possibly part-funding other posts so there are economical, financial incentives to do it."

The Supported Employment Service links up with adults aged 18 and over with learning disabilities to help them find work.

The service searches job opportunities for them, sets up work experience placements, helps them access training and offers one-on-one ongoing training for those able to hold down work.

Some of the employers who use it include Matalan in Malvern, where one worker with learning difficulties has worked for over a decade, Styans family farm in Evesham, MHS Travel in Stourport-on-Severn and Newland Hurst care home in Droitwich.

The figure for Worcestershire stood at five per cent 12 months ago, with the service's success rate on an upward trend.

The council's target for the 2017/18 year is to hit 10 per cent, meaning 128 adults with learning disabilities would be in work.

That sort of rate would put Worcestershire among the best in the country.

Sally-Ann Parker, a council officer heading up the scheme, said: "A lot of businesses in Worcestershire find it hard to recruit for very small hours - we can help with that.

"It's about supporting these people and their families to overcome the barriers they face in finding work."

Sandra Hill, chief executive of Droitwich-based Speak Easy Now, which supports county people with learning difficulties, added: "We need a lot more education of employers.

"A lot of them don't understand - when they see the intellectual part of a person being 'diminished', they write someone off and think they won't be able to learn.

"But everyone is different, just like any person."