Hi Bryan If you don't mind, I'm going to steer well clear with regards to the setting of legal precedents. DSA does exist to provide a SLI for the purposes of studying, as well as other types of non medical help. Universities, as public bodies, have additional duties in respect of students with disabilities. However, when it comes to the additional personal study support, that's what DSA is for. Hopefully the increase in DSA allowances will overcome any shortfall in personal support students may have experienced. I can kind of see where you're coming from , supplanting Assessment Centre with University. It however would involve an extremely lengthy discussion about the complexities of HEI financing and public duties, including the HEI's Disability Equality Duty. These become legal matters, which may obfuscate the bottom line; that there should be no additional barriers to students accessing and remaining in higher education. I would hope this is something that we could all agree on. Best wishes Chris Bryan Jones <[log in to unmask] K> To Sent by: [log in to unmask] "Discussion list cc for disabled students and Subject their support Re: BSL Interpreter costs - staff." response to Chris Dunlop <DIS-FORUM@JISCMA IL.AC.UK> 08/12/2008 13:21 Please respond to "Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff." <DIS-FORUM@JISCMA IL.AC.UK> Hi Chris Well fair enough, if that is the current thinking. However, custom and practice since DSA was introduced has been that cost of SLI provision was recoverable from DSA. The same arguments you make can surely also be levied at the students institution. "A University sending out the message that it won't bear the costs of supplying a BSL interpreter would be sending out an unfortunate message." "For a university, in the supply of goods and services to students with disabilities, the potential costs of making adjustments should be factored into the costs and business plan" But the above is not the case. How is the service provision of an institution based assessment centre different to that of the services provided by other areas of the student's institution? Is there a possibility of setting precedents for institutions in respect if SLI costs and lectures where DSA should not be used to fund that support? Bryan Jones, Manager, Disability Support Services & North London Regional Access Centre, Middlesex University Tel: 020 8411 5366 -----Original Message----- From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christopher Dunlop Sent: 08 December 2008 12:56 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: BSL Interpreter costs - response to Chris Dunlop Hi Bryan I think to be clear, there shouldn't be a point where the student has to bear the cost of a BSL interpreter for a DSA assessment. The second point; private assessment centres with fewer than 20 are not automatically exempt from the requirements of the DDA; they could argue that the cost of making reasonable adjustments could make their business unviable. They would have to prove that to be the case. I think any assessment centre sending out the message that it won't bear the costs of supplying a BSL interpreter would be sending out an unfortunate message. Whether it's for an assessment centre, in the supply of goods and services to students with disabilities, the potential costs of making adjustments should be factored into the costs and business plan of the centres and/or companies involved. This should create a level playing field for students across the board, thus satisfying a positive approach to removing the potential barriers to students in accessing higher education, and a situation where centres and suppliers don't have any sort of comparative advantage over others, by providing a consistently high level of service to students. Best wishes Chris Bryan Jones <[log in to unmask] K> To Sent by: [log in to unmask] "Discussion list cc for disabled students and Subject their support Re: BSL Interpreter costs - staff." response to Chris Dunlop <DIS-FORUM@JISCMA IL.AC.UK> 08/12/2008 12:24 Please respond to "Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff." <DIS-FORUM@JISCMA IL.AC.UK> In regard to DSA and the study skills and strategies assessment. The student is able to attend for an assessment because it is deemed that they are eligible for DSA. The student in effect pays for their assessment and this is funded through the grant that they can apply for - the DSA NMH allowance. The DSA NMH allowance is used to provide the student with the funding to meet the additional costs that they would not have otherwise have incurred but for them embarking upon a higher level course. Therefore, the additional cost of a Sign Language Interpreter at the assessment, that they are paying for, is also something that should be funded / reimbursed to them. On the other hand, provision of a SLI at the assessment could deemed to be a reasonable adjustment that the Assessment Centre is expected to make, in which case the extension of this argument is that such provision as a SLI and the cost of should be also be an expectation of the student’s university and not an additional cost that the student is expected to incur. But as we know this is not what happens because when determining what is reasonable the “grants or loans likely to be available to disabled students” is something that institutions take into account. See example below from the DDA COP. Also, if Assessment Centres are expected to bear the cost of SLI provision there is the point made about a supplier with fewer than 20 employees being exempt from this requirement. Private sector assessment centres without exception, as far as I aware, employ less than 20 employees, so in effect this would mean we would have the anomaly that private sector assessment centres, would be able to levy an additional charge to cover the cost of an SLI at assessment interview while the institution based centres (often operating as specific cost centre entities within their institutions) could not. While at the same time the students teaching depts, often of the same institution as the assessment centre, could expect the student to use their DSA grant to pay for SLI provision. I would therefore suggest that the funding logic is that assessment centres can charge the cost of a SLI to the students DSA just in the same way as the student’s university will do so following the recommendation of that same provision. Example 6.8A A deaf student on a degree course has been assessed as needing a sign language interpreter for all her lectures and seminars. It is unlikely to be reasonable to expect the university to fund an interpreter if the student has the resources for this through her Disabled Students’ Allowances. Bryan Jones, Manager, Disability Support Services & North London Regional Access Centre, Middlesex University Tel: 020 8411 5366 From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of amanda kent Sent: 07 December 2008 19:02 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: BSL Interpreter costs - response to Chris Dunlop Dear Chris, I am puzzled by your reply. Are you saying that the cost of a BSL interpreter for assistive technology training is not something that the student can claim through the DSA? There is a difference between delivery/set-up and the training. The delivery costs (including the set-up explanation) are in the Equipment section of the DSA but the training is in Non-Medical Helper section. Furthermore, the equipment supplier and the training supplier are not necessarily one and the same. I agree that the DSA should not be used to underwrite the costs or legal obligations of suppliers but this should be seen in the context of the DSA as funding used to relieve the student of legitimate additional costs that arise within the context of higher education. The Code of Practice on Rights of Access indicates that there are circumstances where additional charges are permissible. It says on p 168: “10.49 A service provider can justify providing a service on different terms, including charging a disabled person more for some services than it charges other people in certain circumstances. These are where the service is individually tailored to the requirements of the disabled customer. If a higher charge or other difference in terms reflects the additional cost or expense of meeting the disabled person's specification, then that would justify the higher charge. “ (Code on Rights of Access: http://83.137.212.42 /sitearchive/drc/library/publications/services_and_transport/code_of_practice_rights_of_ac.html ) The assistive technology training is surely ‘individually tailored’? The concept of the tailor-made and bespoke training plan and delivery seems to be an underlying principle in the IT training section of ‘Completing SLC DSA Assessment of Need’ document on the DSAQAG website. (See http://www.dsa-qag.org.uk/content.asp?ContentID=77 , pp 16- 18) The strategies approach in the ‘Completing SLC DSA reports’ guide seems to me to include the assumption that equipping the student means both kit and appropriate training. From a strategies point of view, the BSL interpreter plays an essential role in facilitating a learning development plan - they provide access to a detailed level of information exchange and this is achievable due to specialist skills on the part of the interpreter, skills employed to meet the needs of the particular student. The DSA Guidance Chapter for 2008-09 suggests that if equipment is provided for the exclusive use of the student and/or the associated support (in this case training) is specialised, the cost is DSA-able. 134 “The following principles could be used to decide if the support is appropriate for DSA funding when it is unclear if the funding should be met from the DSAs or the institution’s own funding allocation: the support in question is not provided by the institution for all other students; and the equipment is provided for use exclusively by the disabled student.” 135 “DSAs may be used only where a student is obliged by reason of his disability to incur costs in receiving specialised individual support.. “ (DSA Guidance: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/studentsupport/administrators/dsp_section_115.shtml ) The Code of Practice Post-16 education suggests that if DSA funds are available, then the HEI does not meet the costs: 5.48 “Some disabled students following higher education courses will be eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowances, the specific purpose of which is to pay for additional aids and services which students require because of a disability. It would not be reasonable to expect an education provider to pay for the same aids and services for which Disabled Students’ Allowances are available.” (Post 16 Code: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/publicationsandresources/Disability/Pages/Education.aspx ) Using the sources above as a guide, I would conclude that BSL costs for training are DSA-able. From what you say though Chris, it looks like I am wrong; I would be interested to know why. It is possible that I am confusing or conflating Parts 3 and 4 of DDA. Also I have a preference for referring to Codes of Practice because they are easier to understand but of course they do not carry the same weight as the actual legislation; my points could be countered using a more general rule of law approach. Furthermore, it is possible that my preference for a real-world orientated strategies approach to the DSA is obscuring my understanding of an alternative position, a position that argues that the trainer should have anticipated the need to provide a BSL interpreter as part of the service delivery. Amanda Kent DSA assessor From: Christopher Dunlop <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 08:56:41 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain Hi Amanda Just a short reply to this, as it seems that Erin has resolved the issue. A supplier with fewer than 20 employees may be able to argue that the costs to deliver products and services to all in the community make it an unbearable business cost. DSA is indeed there to support students with disabilities and additional needs through University; it's not there to underwrite the costs of suppliers, or underwrite the duty of suppliers in fulfilling their legal obligations. 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