A New Year Message on the Access to Work scheme

News
Wasn’t it great to see Chris McCausland, blind comedian and winner of Strictly, deliver the Channel 4 alternative Christmas message on “Access to Work”?

Chris asked for all Access to Work applications to be dealt with within 4 weeks, a call we should all get behind. 

For those who don’t know what “Access to Work” is, it’s a government scheme that provides personal support, accessible equipment and fares to work, for Disabled people in employment. When it works well, it is an amazing Scheme, and I for one, certainly couldn’t have worked without it.  

For a government with the much-repeated ambition of getting Disabled people into work, you’d think that “Access to Work” would be high on its priority list. But you’d be wrong. It didn’t even get a mention in the recent Government White Paper “Getting Britain Working.” There were lots in the White Paper about restructuring government services and improving employment planning by Mayors and Local Government but nothing about “Access to Work”, a Scheme which directly supports thousands of Disabled people to work.

In reality the Scheme is under great strain and every day lets Disabled workers down. It is under funded and over stretched. This is leading to Disabled people having claims rejected and support reduced. Instead of assisting Disabled people into work, the Scheme is leading to Disabled people losing jobs.  

So, let’s all ask Government, to respond to Chris McCausland’s call for claims to be dealt with in 4 weeks. Let’s also ask Government:

•    To increase the budget for Access to Work to keep pace with demand.
•    To provide support to all Disabled people who need it.
•    To stop reducing support.
•    To deliver communications in preferred formats.
•    To make the Scheme more efficient.
•    To shape and deliver the Scheme in partnership with Disabled people. 

It just doesn’t make sense for the Government to have an ambition to get Disabled people into work, and at the same time fail to invest in and improve the Access to Work Scheme. The Government needs to take urgent action to bring its ambitions for the Access to Work Scheme, in line with its ambitions to support Disabled people into work.

Fazilet Hadi, Policy lead.