My personal experience is similar to Chris's. I was assessed for some equipment in November, they lost my file. Subsequently there was some issue to be sorted by the assessor. This was done fairly quickly but A2W have still not sorted my equipment till this day despite numerous phone calls. The constant change in the people who deal with my case means one has to start explaining the history of past and current adjustments etc from the beginning. Like Chris, I feel my adjustments are being compromised. The experience of other staff who are not used to dealing with A2W is less than positive.
Kind Regards
Anne
Anne Mwangi
Equality and Diversity Advisor
University of Hull
Cottingham Road
Hull HU6 7RX
telephone 01482 466333
Internal Ext 6333
www.hull.ac.uk/equality
-----Original Message-----
From: HEEON equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris Baxter
Sent: 16 April 2014 09:31
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Access to Work
Dear Caroline
My own personal experience as a deaf person who prefers not to use phones is that their methods of working place me at a disadvantage. Your list here illustrates that beautifully!
I have compromised massively on my own access requirements because navigating AtoW is so difficult and convoluted and I have a job to do as well as organise my own support.
Great it is not.
Chris Baxter
Head of Student Disability and Diversity
Student Services
C10 Portland Building
University of Nottingham
0115 9514377
Disability Support website <http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/disabilitysupport/index.aspx>
Equality and Diversity website <http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/equalityanddiversity/index.aspx>
Usual working days are Tuesday to Friday
From: HEEON equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Caroline Moughton
Sent: 15 April 2014 17:33
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Access to Work
Dear All
It has been my experience that the process has become slower. Here are some examples of delays that I have seen introduced:
* When an individual makes first contact, the response now is to arrange a time to phone them back. That may take up to two weeks. It may be difficult for someone with mental health difficulties, who is left anxiously waiting for the call back.
* If an individual mentions that they will be on leave, the ATW adviser delays a referral for a workplace needs assessment or mental health referral until the individual is back at work. This seems unnecessary given that there will then be an additional delay before the next vacant appointment slot. For people who are not going away, it may be easier to take calls on their personal mobiles while they are at home than in a busy shared office.
* ATW advisers may agree support by phone, but say that they are too busy to get the letters sent out for another couple of weeks.
* Recently the letter agreeing funding has required the individual to sign and return a copy of the letter/declaration before ATW will 'release funding and claim forms'. We're still waiting to see what the final letter looks like to tell us that we can actually go ahead and purchase the support!
We greatly appreciate the support provided by Access to Work, but over the past year it has become increasingly difficult to navigate through the bureaucratic process. This is particularly discouraging given that applicants may already be struggling at work for disability-related reasons.
Regards
Caroline
Caroline Moughton
Staff Disability Adviser
Tel. 01865 (2)80687 [log in to unmask]
Postal address: Equality and Diversity Unit
University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JD
Office address: 5 Worcester St, Oxford
Normal working days: Monday-Thursday
www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop
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E&Dlogo_mainsignaturesize AS_RGB_Bronze-Award Stonewall Blue - small
From: HEEON equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of McClement, Fiona
Sent: 09 April 2014 11:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Access to Work
Many thanks Deb. This is really helpful. It has been salaried support workers that the issues have arisen with, unfortunately. AtW have queried all of the tasks they do (which is fine, I do understand the need for them to manage their funds efficiently), however they have then rejected the need for really fundamental types of support. The options AtW have suggested instead have then been, quite frankly, dangerous and absurd.
I was just trying to get a sense if these are isolated issues or not.
Best wishes,
Fiona
Fiona McClement
Equalities and Diversity Adviser
University College London
Tel: 0203 108 3988 Internal 53988
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/equalities/
From: HEEON equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Deb Viney
Sent: 08 April 2014 12:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Access to Work
Hello
I received notice of a petition from my Union recently, they were protesting about changes to the A2W support too. However they had not really got their facts straight...
I asked John Beasley from the national Access to Work team to comment and thi sis what he sent me:
=============================================================================================
Access to Work delivery teams are not imposing a predetermined limit on the number of hours of support for which funding can be considered. The refinement in our grant award decision making process that has been applied concerns the calculation of funding levels in respect of customers requiring a significant number of hours of support each week.
It is our view that it would be reasonable to expect some type of economy of scale in terms of commercial hourly rates being charged by service providers when the requirement is consistent and predictable in terms of timing, location and customer need for anything from 30 hours upwards per week. In view of this our expectation is that grant awards intended to meet needs in excess of, for example, 30 hours per week will have their value assessed against a reasonable annual salary for that service. This consideration has formed part of our operational delivery guidance for some considerable time.
The details of how support is delivered and managed in each situation are a matter for our customers, their employers and service providers. We are not prescriptive on this issue; our priority is that support meets the agreed identified needs and that our grant is released appropriately.
We have to take all reasonable steps to ensure that programme funds are managed in the most efficient way possible as we aim to address the disability related needs of the maximum number of customers across a range of employment types and with many different support requirements. We look very closely at all awards in this context and it would be irresponsible of us to fund some extremely high value support packages given the potential for such use of funds to reduce our capacity to help more disabled people within the limits of the Access to Work budget
Regards
John
John Beasley
External Relations Manager | Access to Work | Department for Works and Pensions | Work Services Directorate | Oldway House | Broadway | Pontypridd | CF37 4SP | 01443 484703 | 07966 566218 | www.dwp.gov.uk | Please consider the environment before printing
================================================================================
Given that hourly paid support from (say) a BSL interpreter supplied by an agency can be extremely expensive, I can see why the A2W people would sometimes ask whether it would be more effective to appoint someone on a salaried basis as a support worker ...
regards, Deb
On 8 April 2014 12:28, McClement, Fiona <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Many thanks for this Marije. It's very helpful indeed. From the feedback I've had so far, it seems that experiences have been mixed but provision for support workers seems to be worsening.
Best wishes,
Fiona
From: Marije Davidson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Admin EO <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, 8 April 2014 09:41
To: Admin EO <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Access to Work
Good morning all,
Certainly AtW has become more difficult for deaf people, in terms of the application process and what support it will cover - this is very arbitrary. The payment process is also time-consuming and the requirements vary, even within the same AtW office (in particular around travel expenses).
A website has been set up specifically around the problems that Deaf people experience: http://www.deafatw.com/
This website also has a copy of DWP guidance for AtW assessors which is a very useful tool in navigating the system.
Best wishes,
Marije Davidson
Equality and Diversity Adviser
York St John University, Lord Mayor's Walk, York YO31 7EX
T: 01904 406457 (please dial full number)
E: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> W: www.yorksj.ac.uk <http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/>
@ysjequality
From: HEEON equal opportunities list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of McClement, Fiona
Sent: 07 April 2014 16:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Access to Work
Afternoon All,
I'm just wondering, have other institutions encountered increasing difficulties with Access to Work? Over the past year or so we have found that the process has become much more convoluted and the goal posts have appeared to keep shifting in terms of what they will and will not fund by way of support workers, etc. We have a central fund for adjustments but do still rely on Access to Work to supplement this. Despite our very best efforts to ensure delays do not effect disabled staff, there have been cases when it has caused a lot of stress for staff and their managers. Which is clearly worrying, both for individuals and also our institutional goal to employ more disabled staff.
Have others had similar experiences? I'd be interested to gauge if this is a problem with a certain AtW office or a much wider issue.
Best wishes,
Fiona
Fiona McClement
Equalities and Diversity Adviser
University College London
Tel: 0203 108 3988 Internal 53988
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/equalities/
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