The Work and Pensions Committee has received almost 300 written submissions to its inquiry into Access to Work and that number is much higher than usual. In 2013, Third Sector reported a ‘record high’ of 186 submissions to a Public Administration Committee inquiry.
According to the Committee, a large majority of those submissions came from deaf people and the organisations that work with and for them.
And that’s before the extended deadlines for submissions in British Sign Language (BSL) and from people with learning disabilities or limited English literacy have been reached.
Jim Edwards, chair of the UK Council on Deafness, said: “The number of submissions that talk about the impact of Access to Work on deaf people reflects the fact there are clear issues with the scheme.
“People are saying the same things: customer service is poor, consistency is lacking and policies are damaging to job prospects. But above all there’s a strong message that Access to Work simply doesn’t understand deaf people and the support they need in work.
“The number of responses and their consistency is also testament to the fact deaf people and organisations have come together on this. We look forward to working with the Committee and the DWP to make sure it’s sorted out to everyone’s benefit.”
Problems with Access to Work, which provides funding for practical support to help disabled people find or stay in work, surfaced towards the end of 2013. Since then, the UK Council on Deafness has been talking to the Minister for Disabled People, Mike Penning MP, and Department for Work and Pensions officials.
As a result, on 14 May the Minister announced a review of the scheme to run alongside the Work and Pensions Committee inquiry. A consultation is expected to begin at the end of July.
The UK Council on Deafness submission to the inquiry is available online in English and British Sign Language.
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pennybsl
July 3, 2014
A question:
What is the harm in employing skilled, qualified, informed and impartial Deaf Civil Servants in the Access to Work Departments, and Deaf AtW Assessors working with their hearing colleagues??
There are Deaf Graduates in menial work available to be an asset to the Civil Service & the Government.
The process would be extremely cost-effective, we confess that would have avoided the mess & stress, especially loss of prestige and unacceptable waste of resources.
Linda Richards
July 3, 2014
There have been some tremendous submissions and I have been reading a selection of these.
There are two I would quibble with so far – notably fixing the fees to be paid and the promotion of VRS services to the apparent exclusion of interpreters in person. One is illegal and the other is restrictive.
On the upside, there are some great recommendations and sensible comments about the need for flexibility not least because the needs may vary from week to week.
The experiences relayed by respondents show wild variables, a lack of knowledge about our needs and inconsistent practices by AtW officers.
There are many more submissions which haven’t been possible because Deaf people don’t have access to an interpreter to write these up. Ironic or what?
The fact that so much changed after a particular point indicates a policy change by the government and/or a policy initiative by the senior officers in charge at AtW/DWP. Targets have been set and we Deaf people are bearing the brunt of this.
It’s time for specialists to take this on board. Deaf people themselves. I hope this will happen and that there is a real sea change in the process.
VerityTJ
July 4, 2014
When I submitted my response, I already didn’t have someone contact me regarding my review in 7 working days, so I mentioned this. Unfortunately, one thing I won’t be able to mention is that almost a month later I’ve still had no advisor contact me. I emailed the advisor manager who contacted me when I first followed up (as she was made to contact me after missing the 7 working day deadline). She told me my advisor will contact me ‘today or tomorrow’. That never happened. Can anyone direct me to a) timescales for AtW and b) complaints system? Thanks, wouldn’t know where else to ask this question…