Deaf News: Access to Work ‘passports’ to be piloted this year as Government launches its National Disability Strategy

‘Passports’ which aim to provide Access to Work claimants with “smooth transitions between job roles” will be trialled later this year, the UK Government has revealed, as part of its new National Strategy for Disabled People.

The long-awaited document, published on Wednesday, states that the passports will look to provide “an indicative overview” to employers about the support available on the scheme, which helps disabled people access equipment and services to help them in the workplace.

“It will transform the Access to Work customer journey by reducing the need for repeated assessments where the individual’s needs remain the same, enable a seamless transition and set the expectation with employers that tailored specialist aids and appliances will follow the passport holder when they change jobs,” it reads.

The Department for Work and Pensions will conduct several pilots to inform the future development of the proposals, with freelancers and contractors moving between job roles and young people transitioning from work to education (or education to work) set to take part.

The resource will work alongside another passport for “all disabled students” leaving university, which the Government hopes will “raise awareness of Access to Work in schools and universities”.

Other plans included in the 120-page document include a consultation by the end of the year on “making flexible working the default” unless employers have a good reason not to, working with disabled people on hate crime policies, and allowing Deaf jurors to have a BSL interpreter in the deliberation room – a common law change introduced in the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

On transport, the Department for Transport said it would conduct a “network-wide accessibility audit” of facilities “at all 2,565 mainline railway stations” in Great Britain, and introduce rules by summer next year to require bus operators to provide “audible and visual announcements” onboard their services.

The Government added that it will build “on the experience of the Access to Elected Office fund and the EnAble Fund” – two schemes to support disabled political candidates which were shut down in 2015 and 2020 respecitvely – to develop a new scheme from April 2022.

The project will be run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, but it’s not yet known if the scheme will cover local or general elections, or both.

It also comes after Paul Welton, a Deaf candidate who stood for election in May, accused the Government of “denying” him communication support.

Officials from the Government Equalities Office told the local council in North Somerset that they could not provide a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter on results night.

Another Deaf candidate, Labour’s Lee Starr-Elliott, also faced issues around a lack of support, and later withdrew his candidacy in Bristol.

Towards the end of the strategy document, the Cabinet Office committed to “[improving] the accessibility of Government communications”, despite the department currently facing a legal challenge over its failure to provide an on-platform BSL interpreter at its coronavirus briefings from Downing Street.

The judgment from Mr Justice Fordham, is due to be given at 10am today.

Commenting on the National Strategy, Justin Tomlinson, the Minister for Disabled People, said: “For the first time, we have real cross-Government focus, with clearly set out priorities and aims.

“We are absolutely committed to putting disabled people at the heart of government policy making and service delivery. Their voices, insights and experiences are central to this strategy and our future approach.

“By engaging disabled people, their families, carers and organisations, collectively we will deliver real and lasting change.”

Over 16,500 people responded to the Government’s UK Disability Survey to inform the strategy, while the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID), Royal Association for Deaf people, Scope, Sense and the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) were among the organisations which shared their insight.

The five charities have been approached by The Limping Chicken for comment.

A BSL version of the strategy can be found on the UK Government’s website.

Photo: Equality Hub/YouTube.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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Update – 28.07.21 – 16:28: Labour’s Shadow Minister for Disabled People, Vicky Foxcroft MP, has criticised the Government’s National Disability Strategy as a “lacklustre effort with too much talking and not enough doing”.

“The whole consultation process failed to properly consult with disabled people organisations, while many critical areas such as collecting data, adequate funding and the ongoing crisis in social care were completely ignored.

“Adding insult to injury, the Government released this crucial strategy while parliament isn’t sitting therefore avoiding any proper scrutiny. A future Labour government would produce policies in partnership with disabled people that have dignity and respect at their heart,” she said.

Mike Hobday, Director of Policy and Campaigns at The National Deaf Children’s Society, said the charity is “very pleased” to see the strategy, but it will “remain an uphill struggle to ensure an urgently needed transformation”.

“Deaf children and young people still face too many barriers in accessing education, moving to employment and accessing services. The strategy demonstrates that change is not yet sufficiently embedded across Government, though many of the policies – including the Access to Work ‘adjustments passport’ – will be very helpful.

“There’s a bitter irony in the fact that this strategy has been published on the same day that the Government has lost a court case on failing to provide sign language interpretation at its COVID-19 briefing,” he said.

A High Court judge found that two scientific briefings held by the Government last year were in breach of the Equality Act because a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter was not provided.

Elsewhere, Mark Atkinson, Chief Executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID), said that while the charity welcomes “many of the policy initiatives announced” within the strategy – including on employment, access to public services and accessible communications – “there is much more for the Government to do”.

He said in a statement: “Many of the short-term commitments made are to be welcomed, but the Strategy as a whole falls short of the transformational plan that many disabled people expected and deserve. Unless we get clear detail beyond the next 12 months, it is difficult to see how life will be significantly different for the next generation of disabled people.

“There are areas that are promising, such as the commitment to get companies reporting on disability figures in the workplace, the creation of an accessible technology centre, action to improve public transport, and a taskforce to look at the extra costs that disabled people face.

“However, there are areas where the strategy doesn’t go far enough, even in this first year. Disabled children and their families will gain little from this Strategy beyond tweaks to the education system. And Government has failed to set out how and when it intends to close the disability employment gap.”

Mr Hodgkinson concluded by saying that Scope will look to “work constructively” with the Government to ensure the strategy is “properly funded” and goes “significantly beyond a one-year plan” to be a “truly transformational strategy for the lives of disabled people and their families”.

The charity Sense, which supports deafblind people and those with complex disabilities, said that although the strategy lays out “a more co-ordinated approach by Government”, it “does not contain the concrete actions” required to make change needed for disabled people and their families.

The organisation’s Chief Executive, Richard Kramer, said: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to work differently, proposing a co-ordinated approach to developing and implementing policy. However, whilst there is commitment to bring about change in the future, there is no centrepiece announcement that will bring about real change now, whether that is support in early years, at transition, for employment or to live independently in the community.

“We would like to have seen more ambition, scope and commitment to funding.

“We do believe that the Government are sincere in wanting to understand and address the needs of disabled people. We encourage them to work with us, disabled communities and other organisations represented by disabled people to help shape the implementation of the strategy further.”

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Update – 28.07.21 – 16:46: Commenting on the strategy, a RAD spokesperson said it acknowledges “some of the many disadvantages” faced by deaf and disabled people in society, such as barriers to employment.

“To this end there are some welcome policy proposals, including plans to develop an Access to Work ‘passport’ and conduct a review of the Disability Confident scheme. The cross-departmental approach to the Strategy, which includes the creation of Ministerial Disability Champions, is also a welcome step forward.

“However, other than plans to allow deaf people who need a BSL interpreter to do jury service, little mention is made of the needs of deaf people specifically.

“The outcome of today’s Judicial Review shows that the Government cannot take the accessibility needs of deaf people lightly, and so we will be monitoring the progress of the Strategy closely – and looking to work with government wherever we can – to ensure that the concerns of deaf people are addressed going forward.

“One thing that we will be advocating for, along with others, is a BSL Act,” they said.