Equality analysis for the future of Access to Work (May 2015)
15th May 2015
On 1st May the DWP published online an Equality Analysis (also called an Equality Impact Assessment). Click here to read it. The Independent wrote about it (see 12th May update) and there has been lots of discussion about it.
(1) What is an Equality Analysis and why have AtW done it now?
(2) How the AtW changes may affect you - useful information from the Minister's statement and AtW Equality Analysis.
(3) Issues about the Equality Analysis of AtW.
On 1st May the DWP published online an Equality Analysis (also called an Equality Impact Assessment). Click here to read it. The Independent wrote about it (see 12th May update) and there has been lots of discussion about it.
(1) What is an Equality Analysis and why have AtW done it now?
(2) How the AtW changes may affect you - useful information from the Minister's statement and AtW Equality Analysis.
(3) Issues about the Equality Analysis of AtW.
(1) What is an Equality Analysis and why have AtW done it now?
15th May 2015
The Equality Act 2010 says that there is a Public Sector Equality Duty on service providers. This means that when they are thinking about their services, they should think about whether the way the service is provided (or the rules they use) will make it more difficult for certain groups of people to use that service. They should also think about whether the way the service is provided, or the rules, could affect certain groups of people more badly than others. This is called an Equality Analysis (EA).
The service provider must think ‘protected characteristics’ or ‘protected groups’. This means people with disabilities (including Deaf people), women or men, old or young people, gay or straight, transgender people, and people of different religious faiths.
Mark Harper, who was the Minister for Disability, said that he was planning to make some changes to AtW on 12/3/15. (See Update dated 12/3/15 below for discussion about this). Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, AtW must do an Equality Analysis for those changes. This is what they have done
What does the Equality Analysis look at?
It starts by looking at why they are making changes to AtW.
It then looks at changes that have already been made, some changes that it says will be made, and some ideas for possible changes in the future, and how they may affect protected groups.
AtW chose to look at the impact of the changes under two headings.
‘Value for Money’, which includes:
‘Customer service’, which includes:
When they talk about some of the changes they sometimes quote DWP Select Committee comments, and some comments from Deaf and disabled people.
Click here to read the DWP Equality Analysis.
The Equality Act 2010 says that there is a Public Sector Equality Duty on service providers. This means that when they are thinking about their services, they should think about whether the way the service is provided (or the rules they use) will make it more difficult for certain groups of people to use that service. They should also think about whether the way the service is provided, or the rules, could affect certain groups of people more badly than others. This is called an Equality Analysis (EA).
The service provider must think ‘protected characteristics’ or ‘protected groups’. This means people with disabilities (including Deaf people), women or men, old or young people, gay or straight, transgender people, and people of different religious faiths.
Mark Harper, who was the Minister for Disability, said that he was planning to make some changes to AtW on 12/3/15. (See Update dated 12/3/15 below for discussion about this). Under the Public Sector Equality Duty, AtW must do an Equality Analysis for those changes. This is what they have done
What does the Equality Analysis look at?
It starts by looking at why they are making changes to AtW.
It then looks at changes that have already been made, some changes that it says will be made, and some ideas for possible changes in the future, and how they may affect protected groups.
AtW chose to look at the impact of the changes under two headings.
‘Value for Money’, which includes:
- Caps (limits) on high-cost awards and transitional protection (this means that the changes won’t happen straight away for everyone)
- (Setting up) expert teams
- Central Contracting of Access to Work Services (Framework)
- Changing guidance on: self-employment, and permanent support workers (the 30 hour rule)
- Research about: The Return on Investment offered by Access to Work / Market Review of BSL interpretation
‘Customer service’, which includes:
- Personal Budgets
- IT upgrade
- Video Relay Service
- Publication of Guidance
- Strengthening the pre-employment eligibility letter
- Expanding Access to Work
When they talk about some of the changes they sometimes quote DWP Select Committee comments, and some comments from Deaf and disabled people.
Click here to read the DWP Equality Analysis.
(2) How the AtW changes may affect you - useful information from the Minister's statement and AtW Equality Analysis
You should read this if:
The new cap (limit) on awards:
From October 2015 AtW awards will be limited to a maximum of £40,800.
This amount of money would pay for 33 weeks’ of full time interpreting at AtW’s maximum rate of £35 per hour (freelance RSLI rate). Less than 33 weeks if you need to use two interpreters sometimes.
The 30-hour guidance:
From April 2015 this has been taken out, and won’t be applied to anyone, Deaf or disabled. This is not needed anymore because of the £40,800 limit.
Being Self Employed:
From October 2015 these rules will change, and if you are self employed or run your own business, AtW will use Universal Credit rules (which are clearer and more reasonable) to check whether you can get AtW. These rules say that:
Traveling abroad for work:
Click here to read the DWP Equality Analysis.
- your award is more than £40,800 each year
- you are self employed or are employed as a Company Director
- you travel abroad for work
The new cap (limit) on awards:
From October 2015 AtW awards will be limited to a maximum of £40,800.
- If you have an award for more than £40,800 in October 2015, then you will keep your award the same until April 2018.
- If you have an award for less than £40,800 in October 2015, then the maximum award you can have after October 2015 will be £40,800.
- If you apply for a new award after October 2015, then the maximum award you can have after October 2015 will be £40,800.
This amount of money would pay for 33 weeks’ of full time interpreting at AtW’s maximum rate of £35 per hour (freelance RSLI rate). Less than 33 weeks if you need to use two interpreters sometimes.
The 30-hour guidance:
From April 2015 this has been taken out, and won’t be applied to anyone, Deaf or disabled. This is not needed anymore because of the £40,800 limit.
Being Self Employed:
- All applicants who say they are self-employed must provide proof of self-employment, which can include their HM Revenue and Customs Unique Tax Reference and evidence of relevant National Insurance payments.
- Self-employed people don’t have to earn the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
- The AtW guidance has been changed to make clear that people employed as Company Directors do not have to be paid the NMW.
- A business does not have to be profitable within any particular time, but it must either have been profitable in the past, or be likely to be profitable in the future (within a year or two).
From October 2015 these rules will change, and if you are self employed or run your own business, AtW will use Universal Credit rules (which are clearer and more reasonable) to check whether you can get AtW. These rules say that:
- You should pay either class 2 or 4 NI contributions. And if you are below lower earnings limits, you should pay either class 2 or 4 contributions voluntarily (£2.80 a week 2015-2016). You can read more about NI contribution rates here.
- In the first year of trading, a business is not required to achieve any minimum turnover.
- By the annual review at the second year of trading, a business should have turnover of £104 or more a week. This is the same as 16 hours of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The NMW is different for different ages (click here to see the NMW now). The rules also say this should be adjusted ‘for disability’, but I don’t know what this means.
- This means that self-employed people don’t have to earn the National Minimum Wage, because it is about how much money the business turns over, not how much you earn.
Traveling abroad for work:
- This isn’t being changed.
- Support abroad can be provided for up to three months’ work outside the UK in any 12-month period.
- This is meant to support people who need to travel abroad for no more than a few days at a time as part of their job.
Click here to read the DWP Equality Analysis.
(3) Issues about the AtW's Equality Analysis.
15th May 2015
It is good that DWP have conducted an Equality Analysis (EA). Because some changes will affect different groups of disabled people more than others, it is important that it is done well, and used to help the Minister and DWP make good decisions.
I have considered where some of the problems in this assessment are, and how the EA could be improved.
Employers’ reasonable adjustments:
The EA assumes there is always an employer who could top up support costs. But for self employed people, and people running their own businesses, there is no employer.
The impact of these changes on self-employed people (particularly the £40,800 cap) and their ability to run a viable business is not looked at. This will have the greatest impact on Deaf self-employed people.
Capping
The EA says that AtW exists to pay for support above the employers’ ‘’reasonable adjustment’. But then says that they want to expand the scheme cutting the support of those who need the highest cost support. This seems inconsistent with AtW’s stated aims.
It would seem more sensible for AtW to expect employers to pay for lower value awards (half of all awards are for less than £1,000) and instead focus on funding support for people whose access needs are likely to be more than a reasonable adjustment, i.e. people with higher cost access needs.
Central Contracting of BSL interpreters
The EA does not make it clear what they mean by this, but they do mention the proposed National Framework Agreement (NFA) for interpreting (see update 15/1/15 for discussion about the NFA).
If AtW mean the NFA, then it is likely that a few of agencies, probably the bigger spoken language agencies, will be given contracts to provide AtW interpreters, at a fixed price. This price is likely to be quite a lot less than interpreters are currently paid, because the agency will need to make a profit, and still charge less than AtW pay interpreters directly. It's likely that awards will be made based on these lower fees.
This proposal is based on a number of flawed assumptions:
Other issues:
The main way AtW intend to save money is to cap awards, and to limit the fees they pay interpreters. Their analysis shows that this will disproportionately affect Deaf people, but they say that they do not know what effect this will have, so they will ‘monitor’ it. They do not say how or when they will monitor this, or what might make them think again about the cap.
The EA recognises that these changes may affect Deaf people badly. In several places, the EA talks about things that will reduce the negative effect of capping awards and reducing the costs paid for interpreters.
One of these is increasing the use of ‘technology’. But there is no mention of what that technology is, how much it might cost, whether it is suitable to the needs of Deaf people who do not use English, or how it may make having a budget capped below what is needed, ok.
In the same way ‘improved customer service’, ‘personalisation’ and ‘efficiencies’ are noted as things that will help Deaf people cope with a capped budget. However, there is no explanation as to what this might look like, and how or if it will actually help.
Click here to read the DWP Equality Analysis.
It is good that DWP have conducted an Equality Analysis (EA). Because some changes will affect different groups of disabled people more than others, it is important that it is done well, and used to help the Minister and DWP make good decisions.
I have considered where some of the problems in this assessment are, and how the EA could be improved.
Employers’ reasonable adjustments:
The EA assumes there is always an employer who could top up support costs. But for self employed people, and people running their own businesses, there is no employer.
The impact of these changes on self-employed people (particularly the £40,800 cap) and their ability to run a viable business is not looked at. This will have the greatest impact on Deaf self-employed people.
Capping
The EA says that AtW exists to pay for support above the employers’ ‘’reasonable adjustment’. But then says that they want to expand the scheme cutting the support of those who need the highest cost support. This seems inconsistent with AtW’s stated aims.
It would seem more sensible for AtW to expect employers to pay for lower value awards (half of all awards are for less than £1,000) and instead focus on funding support for people whose access needs are likely to be more than a reasonable adjustment, i.e. people with higher cost access needs.
Central Contracting of BSL interpreters
The EA does not make it clear what they mean by this, but they do mention the proposed National Framework Agreement (NFA) for interpreting (see update 15/1/15 for discussion about the NFA).
If AtW mean the NFA, then it is likely that a few of agencies, probably the bigger spoken language agencies, will be given contracts to provide AtW interpreters, at a fixed price. This price is likely to be quite a lot less than interpreters are currently paid, because the agency will need to make a profit, and still charge less than AtW pay interpreters directly. It's likely that awards will be made based on these lower fees.
This proposal is based on a number of flawed assumptions:
- AtW say that they need to do this because costs have been going up and up. However, AtW already set the rate they will pay interpreters, therefore a contract of this kind is not needed to manage costs.
- The EA says that Deaf people won’t have ‘the administrative burden of booking interpreters but can be confident that the support they need is in place for the foreseeable future’. It does not say how they would obtain interpreter support without making a booking, nor how the current lack of interpreters will become enough to meet demand.
- The EA says that this will give customers more ‘choice’ – it is difficult to understand the logic behind this because, at present, Deaf people have the choice of any provider they choose.
- It is likely that AtW intend to offer a lower hourly rate of pay, and lower minimum booking fee through the NFA. No consideration is given to the fact that some interpreters will choose not to work for reduced levels level of pay, further reducing the numbers of interpreters available.
Other issues:
The main way AtW intend to save money is to cap awards, and to limit the fees they pay interpreters. Their analysis shows that this will disproportionately affect Deaf people, but they say that they do not know what effect this will have, so they will ‘monitor’ it. They do not say how or when they will monitor this, or what might make them think again about the cap.
The EA recognises that these changes may affect Deaf people badly. In several places, the EA talks about things that will reduce the negative effect of capping awards and reducing the costs paid for interpreters.
One of these is increasing the use of ‘technology’. But there is no mention of what that technology is, how much it might cost, whether it is suitable to the needs of Deaf people who do not use English, or how it may make having a budget capped below what is needed, ok.
In the same way ‘improved customer service’, ‘personalisation’ and ‘efficiencies’ are noted as things that will help Deaf people cope with a capped budget. However, there is no explanation as to what this might look like, and how or if it will actually help.
Click here to read the DWP Equality Analysis.