Disabled employees will be able to benefit from almost £60,000 a
year to assist them at work, the Minister for Disabled People
announced in Parliament today (11 February 2019).
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.
This can include workplace adaptations, assistive technology,
transport and interpreters.
It comes after the government increased the cap by almost a third
last year. 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. This
included adjustable desks, special IT equipment and
voice-recognition software.
The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, , said:
Access to Work provides tailored support to thousands across
the country, ensuring a disability or health condition is not a
barrier to achieve someone’s career aspirations.
By extending this grant even more people can benefit from this
personalised scheme, and more disabled people can thrive in the
workplace.
Latest figures show that last year Access to work provision for
people with mental health conditions increased by 34% compared to
the previous year, and for people with a learning disability it
increased by 22%.
Access to Work is part of a range of support available to ensure
that all disabled people who want to work have the opportunity to
achieve their career aspirations. The scheme is just one of the
ways the government is ensuring that all disabled people who want
to work have the opportunity to achieve their career aspirations.
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.
