From 1 April 2019 people will now be able to claim up to £59,200 annually to help pay for additional support that they may need in the workplace through the government’s Access to Work scheme.
More about the Access to Work Scheme
This can include workplace adaptations, assistive technology, transport and interpreters.
Now, even more people will be able to benefit, especially those from the deaf community who can get BSL interpreters through the scheme.
Access to Work provides financial support to ensure someone’s disability or health condition doesn’t hold them back at work, and last year more than 27,000 people received support, which is arguably nowhere near enough.
The cap has been uprated in line with the annual survey of hours and earnings published by the Office for National Statistics, multiplied by 2.
The current cap is £57,200.
DR UK says at long last DWP are recognising that BSL interpreters are skilled professionals and deserve to be remunerated accordingly.
For ages disabled people have been arguing with Ministers who just didn’t seems to grasp that a BSL interpreter is a skilled job requiring years of study to qualify. With the raising of the cap I think we are finally getting there.