The annual cap on Access to Work grants has been increased by £15,000.
Access to Work, a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help more disabled people start or stay in work, will have an annual cap of £57,200 from April 2018.
The money is available to help pay for additional support that goes beyond an employer’s duty of care as set out in the Equality Act. It can cover workplace adaptations, assistive technology, transport and interpreters.
“We believe that disabled people should have every opportunity to thrive in the workplace, and the tailored support of Access to Work caters to every individual’s unique needs,” said the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey. “By extending this grant we’re ensuring that many more disabled people can reach their career potential.”
The new cap is set at double average earnings and will be up-rated each year on this basis. It has been widely welcomed by disability charities. However, despite this, Disability Rights UK remains concerned that the cap needs to be more flexible.
“Whilst it [the cap] is sufficient for most disabled people, we think that flexibility is needed particularly regarding self-employed disabled people who may need expensive equipment to remain in employment,” said a spokesperson. “It should be possible for the cap to be exceeded in exceptional circumstances.”
In addition to increasing the cap, the Access to Work scheme has also been improved with the introduction of new measures. These include: discretion in exceptional cases of multiple disability, to consider award limits averaged over a longer period; the introduction of managed personal budgets; taking applications 12 weeks ahead of a job start date rather than the current six weeks; investing in digital improvements; and allowing more flexibility in how people can use Access to Work to support short periods of work experience where there is a likelihood of a paid job in the near future.
More information for employers about the Access to Work scheme can be found here.
