Access to Work ChangesThe Minister for Disabled People, Jonathan Shaw, has announced new measures to make sure that the Access to Work scheme works better for learning disabled people and people with mental health conditions.
The budget for Access to Work is increasing and from April this year, £2,000 people with learning disabilities and up to 1,500 people with mental health conditions will be guaranteed Access to Work support to assist them to hold their jobs down. Recent statistics show that less than 1 in 100 of disabled people using Access to Work declare a mental health condition as their main impairment.
The government's Access to Work (AtW) funding scheme is there to make sure disabled people can compete equally with non-disabled people in employment. It currently covers:
- Travel to and from work
- Travel needs within work
- Support workers/communicators/readers
- Equipment
- Adaptations to the working environment
Jonathan Shaw said:
"Last year Access to Work helped over 32,000 people, and this number will continue to grow as the programme budget grows. But we know that a disappointingly low number of people with severe mental health conditions or learning disabilities are getting this funding which would help them stay at work.
"People with mental health and learning disabilities face complex barriers, finding it difficult to get into and stay in work and we recognise we need to do more to help them. But we know that by setting these ambitious targets and doubling the Access to Work budget to £138m by 2013/14, we will make sure that even more help reaches those who need it."
Extra help through AtW will include:
- more personalised assistance,
- more frequent reviews, offering a 'pre-certificate' for jobseekers to show they would, in principle, be eligible for help,
- part funding replacement cover for temporary leave due to mental health or fluctuating conditions, and
- extending support for job coaches which is likely to help learning disabled people.
See the DWP press release for further details: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2010/march-2010/dwp039-10-040310.shtml [added 16 March 2010]
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