Good news: From 1st April 2018 the ATW cap is raised to 2 x National Average Salary (£57,200)
What has changed
Today (20/3/18) DWP has said that the cap will now be raised to 2 x the National Average Salary. This means that from 1st April 2018 the cap (maximum award) to ATW budgets will be £57,200. As a result many more Deaf people will have ATW budgets that are enough to get the support they need to progress at work. |
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What did the DWP say?
Sarah Newton, Minister for Disability, has published a written statement about ATW. She says: "I am ... pleased to announce ... that as of April 2018, the cap will not rise to £43,100 in line with 1.5 times average earnings. Instead it will rise to £57,200, double average earnings, and will be uprated annually on that basis. This means that considerably fewer British Sign Language users now remain affected by the cap." Click here to read her statement in full. Click here to read DWP press release about raising the cap. |
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How did we achieve this?
We did this by working together, and never giving up. Deaf people and interpreters have been worried that the cap would make it harder for Deaf and deafblind people to get work and progress in work. Deaf people, interpreters, DeafATW, UKCoD (United Kingdom Council on Deafness) and the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness) have been campaigning for this to change. June 2017 10 Deaf people affected by the cap met with DWP to talk about how the cap is affecting them, and what might help them manage with the cap. This helped the DWP better understand the issues. Deaf people and interpreters have contacted their MPs. Their MPs have written to the Minister for Disability, asked questions in parliament, and had a Westminster Hall Debate. This helped show that this is an important issue. Deaf people have agreed that we can use case studies that show how the cap is affecting them. This helped MPs and the Minister properly understand how the cap is affecting Deaf and deafblind people. Deaf people affected by the cap did the DeafATW survey, and gave lots of stories about how the cap was affecting them. This gave UKCoD real evidence it needed to show the Minister what the impact of the cap was. |
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UKCoD and the APPG met with the Minister in January, and she then asked us to meet her civil servants to discuss our proposals. Toby Burton (Chair of RAD, Chief Financial Officer for the Economist, who is Deaf and affected by the cap) and I then discussed the UKCoD proposal with her Civil Servants. Your answers to the DeafATW survey really helped us with this.
The Civil Servants then discussed our proposals with the Minister, who has made her decision today. And four important thank you’s for people and organisations who have worked hard in the background to help us achieve this change: Action on Hearing Loss. They provide support for the APPG, have helped us with their policy expertise, and have done a lot of the work to help us follow up with MPs and the Minister. The members of the UKCoD Employment Group. We have spent a lot of time discussing the cap, directly engaging with DWP, and working out what UKCoD can do to make a difference. Craig Crowley, Chair of UKCoD, who supported all the work that the UKCoD Employment Group has done, and was involved in our meeting with the Minister. And lastly Morgan Phillips (my wife). Without her, there would be no DeafATW and no campaign. She helps with DeafATW supporting people. She reads and feeds back on everything I write. And puts up with me campaigning. |
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What happens next?
If your award was above the cap (from 1/10/15), and is above £57,200, on 1st April 2018 it will come down to £57,200. If you have already been capped at 1.5 x the national average salary, you will be reviewed against the new amount at 2 x the NAS. DeafATW will update when we know how this will work. If you make a new application to ATW, or you ask for a review because your circumstances change, the new maximum award will be £57,200. UKCoD will carry on working with DWP to: Monitor the impact of the cap on Deaf and deafblind people, especially those people with awards currently above £57,200. DeafATW will send out one or more surveys to do this. |
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A reminder about the cap:
ATW budgets have been capped since 1st October 2015. The cap means that there is a maximum budget that ATW will give you, even if you need a larger budget to pay for your communication support. The cap is worked out by using the National Average Salary (published by the Office for National Statistics in October each year). The cap to ATW awards was one and a half times the national average salary. This usually changes (increases) every year, because salaries usually increase every year. From April 2015 to March 2018 the cap was £42,100. From April 2018 to March 2019 the cap was planned to be £43,100. Many Deaf people were worried that the cap was too low, and meant they didn’t have enough money to pay for the interpreters they need at work. For people who had an ATW award before 1st October 2015 (when the cap started) the DWP said that their award won’t be reduced to the cap until 1st April 2018. (This was called transitional protection). Deaf people with transitional protection were worried that on 1st April 2018 their award would be reduced to £43,100, and they would not be able to continue to work well in their jobs. |
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Stop the Changes to ATW's statement about the cap being raised
21st march 2018
Click here to read Stop the Changes to ATW's statement about the increase to the cap (link takes you to another website)
Click here to read Stop the Changes to ATW's statement about the increase to the cap (link takes you to another website)
UKCoD announcement about cap being raised to £57,200
20th March 2018
UKCoD's statement: We are pleased to see that the Department of Work and Pensions has decided to significantly raise the Access to Work cap. This will help deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL) to access the communication support so vital to enabling them to thrive and succeed in the workplace. The increase in the cap to £57,200 from April 2018 means that many more people will no longer face restrictions that impact their ability to carry out their jobs. We welcome this development which will reduce the barriers people face when accessing vital support to work, but we believe it is important to continue to monitor the impact of the cap on those with highest needs. We welcome the ongoing engagement that the DWP has had with the sector through the UK Council on Deafness and DWP’s commitment to work collaboratively with us to monitor the impact of the cap. We will work with Access to Work’s specialist team as it seeks to coproduce tailored workplace assessments, and to improve its advice to Deaf people and employers, including on the appropriate use of technology, and we are committed to continue working with the Department to explore how this scheme can work for all. (Many thanks to Fifi Garfield who translated this on a voluntary basis for DeafATW). |
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UKCoD & APPG meeting with Minster for Disability about ATW cap
11th February 2018
On 29th January UKCoD and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Deafness met with Sarah Newton, Minister for Disability, to talk about the ATW cap. We had already sent Sarah Newton the results of the DeafATW survey about the cap, and case studies about how the cap is already affecting Deaf people. At the meeting we presented our evidence and arguments to her. At the end of the meeting she asked us to talk about our concerns more with her civil servants, so she can make a decision before 1/4/18. The people who attended the meeting with the Minister were: Craig Crowley, Chair of UKCOD (uses AtW, affected by the cap April '18_ Darren Townsend-Handscomb, Chair of UKCoD Common Purpose Employment Group Toby Burton, Chief Financial Officer, the Economist Group (uses AtW, affected by the cap April '18) Rob Geaney, Secretariat to the APPG on Deafness Jim Fitzpatrick (APPG Chair) Lilian Greenwood MP Stephen Lloyd MP Click here to read the full UKCoD update about the meeting. |
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UKCoD and the APPG on Deafness will meet with Sarah Newton 29th January 2018
22nd November 2017
The APPG and UKCoD are meeting with Sarah Newton, the new Minister for Disability, on 29th January 2018 to discuss the cap to ATW awards.
Jim Fitzpatrick (APPG Chair), Craig Crowley (UKCoD Chair, affected by the cap April '18), Toby Burton (who will be affected by the cap in April '18) and I (as Chair of the UKCoD Employment group), will be attending. There may be other people attending, this is to be confirmed.
We have sent Sarah Newton the results of the DeafATW survey about the cap, and case studies about how the cap is already affecting Deaf people.
The APPG and UKCoD are meeting with Sarah Newton, the new Minister for Disability, on 29th January 2018 to discuss the cap to ATW awards.
Jim Fitzpatrick (APPG Chair), Craig Crowley (UKCoD Chair, affected by the cap April '18), Toby Burton (who will be affected by the cap in April '18) and I (as Chair of the UKCoD Employment group), will be attending. There may be other people attending, this is to be confirmed.
We have sent Sarah Newton the results of the DeafATW survey about the cap, and case studies about how the cap is already affecting Deaf people.
Cap to ATW awards / budgets 2016 to 2018
4th September 2017
ATW budgets have been capped since 1st October 2015. The cap means that there is a maximum budget that ATW will give you, even if you need a larger budget to pay for your communication support. The cap is worked out by using the national average salary (published by the Office for National Statistics in October each year), which usually changes every year. The cap to ATW awards / budgets is currently one and a half times the national average salary. What cap you have to your award will depend on what year you applied for ATW, or what year your ATW was reviewed. If your ATW award started or was reviewed between: The annual cap (limit) for the ATW budget is: 1st October 2015 to 31st March 2016 £40,800 1st April 2016 to 31st March 2017 £41,400 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018 £42,100 If you had an ATW award before the cap started1st October 2015, then it will not be capped until 1st April 2018. |
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In 2017 AtW started contacting employers to talk to them about the cap, sometimes before the Deaf person had told the employer about the cap
20th August 2017
If you have an ATW budget more than £42,100 then you will be capped from 1st April 2018. Some Deaf people haven't told their employer about the cap, because they are worried about how their employer will react. Two Deaf people who had awards that are higher than the cap told me that last week their ATW adviser telephoned their manager and asked them if they knew about the cap that would be starting 1st April 2018. The adviser also suggested to their manager that the company would probably have to pay all the access costs above the cap. One of the Deaf people hadn't yet told their manager about this because they were worried about talking to them. It was not good that their manager found out from ATW. If you will be affected by the cap April 2018, and haven't yet talked to your manager, it may be worth talking to them now, in case ATW contact them and tell them about the cap soon. |
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Meeting between Deaf people affected by the cap and ATW: Why, who, and notes
(1) The ATW cap - why did we meet?
20th August 2017
Access to Work awards are now capped at one and a half times the national average salary, which changes each year. This is currently £42,042 per year. The cap has been set at £42,100. People who had an ATW award before 1 October 2015, and who haven’t changed their award since October 2015, won't be capped until 1 April 2018. ATW expect Deaf people to ask their employer to pay for communication support above £42,100 a year. DeafATW and UKCoD are worried that the cap will act as a ‘glass ceiling’, making it more difficult for Deaf people to get and progress in customer facing, professional and more senior roles. |
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(2) Why did ATW want to meet deaf people affected by the cap?
AtW with the UKCoD Common Purpose Employment Group arranged for 10 people who have been or will be affected by the cap to meet with the ATW Strategy Lead for AtW on 29th June 2017.
AtW were interested in learning more about their experiences of how the cap has affected or will affect them, their work, and their employer; and what ideas, strategies and resources they have used to manage this now or in the future to retain and progress in employment. |
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(3) Which Deaf people went to the meeting?
We wanted to make sure the Deaf people who came reflected a range of different employment (professional and managerial roles), ages, and balanced women and men.
Some people who attended the meeting preferred to be anonymous. People who attended the meeting and were happy to be named were: Camilla Arnold, Ben Fletcher, Andrew Jordan, Thomas Mulloy, Josie Smith, Mariam Qazi |
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(4) A short summary of the meeting (click to read the longer summary)
The meeting went well, and people appreciated that they had been invited to this meeting.
However, most of the people attending the meeting could not think of anything that would make much difference in the amount or cost of the support they needed in order to be able to work effectively. Most people assumed they would just have to have more ‘non-communication’ time. Also most believed that their employer could not, or would not fund the difference between the cap and the cost of the support they need to be able to do their work. For this reason, many had not discussed it with their employer as they were scared about the negative consequences of doing so. The ATW Strategy Lead said that he would let the Minister for Disability know what Deaf people had fed back at this meeting. Click here to read more about the meeting, and the different ideas that were discussed. |
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UKCoD Access to Work Cap briefing
1st May 2017
UKCoD have written a report for the DWP on the impact of the cap. It includes a case study of a Deaf woman who applied for and got a job, but then the employer changed their mind and withdrew the job offer, because of the cap.
Click here to read the report.
UKCoD have written a report for the DWP on the impact of the cap. It includes a case study of a Deaf woman who applied for and got a job, but then the employer changed their mind and withdrew the job offer, because of the cap.
Click here to read the report.
Are you, or anyone you know, affected by the cap?
5th April 2017
UKCoD has arranged for up to 10 people directly affected by the cap to have an opportunity to talk to AtW policy officials directly. This meeting is to:
We want to try to get people attending from a range of employment situations, including larger businesses, small companies, the public sector (including schools and Local Authorities, etc), the NHS, self-employed people and those running their own company, people who work for Deaf charities, Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs), people who work in rural areas, etc.
So if you know of people who are affected by the cap who you think should be involved, please put them in contact with me.
UKCoD has arranged for up to 10 people directly affected by the cap to have an opportunity to talk to AtW policy officials directly. This meeting is to:
- Share their experiences.
- Talk about the likely future impact.
- Let DWP officials know how they/their employers have considered managing under the cap.
- And share their suggestions for further assistance, policy tweaks, communication advice, and anything else they can think of.
We want to try to get people attending from a range of employment situations, including larger businesses, small companies, the public sector (including schools and Local Authorities, etc), the NHS, self-employed people and those running their own company, people who work for Deaf charities, Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs), people who work in rural areas, etc.
So if you know of people who are affected by the cap who you think should be involved, please put them in contact with me.