The Government is consulting on changes to benefits and support. This includes consulting on changes to AtW. 

There is a Green Paper and consultation, "Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working". Chapter 4: Supporting Employers and making work accessible, is about AtW, and contains the consultation questions about AtW.

You can find the Green Paper and consultation here: 
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper 

The consultation closes 30th June 2025.

It is important that organisations of and representing deaf people, and deaf people themselves, take part in this consultation.

There is a BSL translation of the whole Green paper, almost 5 hours long. The chapter on ATW starts at 3:42, and is 26 minutes long.

If you know of deaf organisations who are taking part in the consultation, let me know, and I will share that information in a future DeafATW update.

Click here for the ATW online portal.  You can:

Claim for your grant, instead of using a paper form.
​
Apply to renew your grant.

Apply for a new grant.

The portal is still being developed, and at the moment there are some things that don't always work well.  

But, most deaf people say that it is much easier to make claims online than filler paper forms, and online forms can't get lots in the post.  

It is also easier for other people to countersign, e.g. interpreters, your manager if you are employed, etc.

The first time that you use it you will be asked to first set up an ID account, but you only need to do this once.

The ATW cap (maximum award / budget) is worked out as 2 x the National Average Salary (NAS). If the National Average Salary goes up, then the ATW cap goes up too.

The old cap from April 2022 to March 2023 is £65,180.  

The new cap from April 2023 to March 2024 is £66,000.  (This is an increase of just over 1.25%)

For information, see below for caps for all previous years since they started:

Everyone should be using this new form now, but ATW has not told all ATW customers about this yet, or sent the new form to everyone.  

​There are five posts about these new forms. Click here to see all the DeafATW posts about claim forms.

Click on the headings below to go to that post.
 
(1)  Download the new ATW claim form (DP222JP) in PDF or Word.
 
(2)  Complete the new ATW Support Worker claim form (DP222JP) and Travel claim, form (DP226JP) through a web browser.
 
(3)  How to spend less time filling in your claim forms every month.
 
(4)  Where the new claim forms need to be signed, and who has to sign them?
 
(5)  What is the problem with the new Support Worker claim form if you are self-employed, and what you can do about it?

(6)  Completable Access to Work PDF claim forms (DP226JP, DP228JP, DP224JP) and Word versions of Support Worker Record of Tasks V23 and the 3rd party consent form.

ATW should not reject your claim because you have used the old form.  

If you send in a claim form using the old form (two pages) you may have it returned because you have used the old form. ATW have said they should not return it, but should pay it, and then send you the new claim form for you to use next time. Let DeafATW know if ATW return your claim form without paying it.

Table with links to the resources available through DeafATW:

To help you find the resource that you want, all the resources available through DeafATW are listed below in the table. Click on 'Yes' to go to the blog post linking to that resource. Because there is important information about the resources in the post the table links to the blog posts not directly to the resource.

If ATW have not sent you a PDF of the new form you can download the PDF form here*. 

Some people have had problems filling in the PDF, especially people with visual impairments.
 
If you are having problems, we have a copy of the claim form in MS Word that you can use instead of the PDF. (This was created by David Smith, of B Reason-ABLE, who has agreed DeafATW can share it).
 
If you want to use the Word version of the form:
 
a)  You agree you are using it at your own risk. DeafATW and B Reason-ABLE cannot promise that ATW will accept this form. 
  
b)  You must not change ANY TEXT on the form, only fill in your details, etc.
 
c)  If you are going to print the claim form to send to ATW, make sure it still fits on five pages, and looks like the PDF when you print it.
 
d)  If you are sending the form in by email, you MUST save it as a PDF first, and then send ATW the PDF of your claim form, not the Word version.
 
You can download the Word claim form here*. 
 
* DeafATW cannot promise that the claim forms here are the latest versions. If you see that ATW have made changes to a form, please let DeafATW and send us a copy of the new one.

The wonderful Ben Fletcher has created a web form that you can use to complete either the ATW support worker claim form (DP222JP) or the travel to work claim form (DP222JP). You can choose which claim form using a button half way down the form.

When you have entered all your details for the claim form you click the ‘make PDF button’ at the bottom of the form.
 
Remember to tick the box (near the end of the form) to “Use the new 5-page support worker claim form instead of the old 2-page one”.
 
You can also choose to save your form to use again next month.

https://www.benfletcher.com/access-paperwork-made-accessible/

If you fill all of your details in to the claim form (PDF, Word, or through a web browser) and then save it as your template, next month will you only have to type in the information that changes every month, e.g. the “Claim details”.

Also, if you have regular interpreters, save one copy with each of your regular interpreter's details, and use that as a template.

Even though the form is longer, if you do this, it won't take you long to complete each month.

Because of the way that the new 5-page claim form is written it can be difficult to know who needs to sign the form, and where they need to sign it.
 
If you are employed – you and your employer need to sign the form, your support worker does not need to sign it.
 
If you are self-employed – you and your support worker need to sign the form.
 
If you have booked a support worker through an agency, then you and the agency need to sign the form.

Download this information as a PDF

On page 3 of the new 5 page claim form there is a section called “Confirmation of support received”.  
 
If you are self-employed you must ask your support worker (interpreter) or the interpreting agency to sign this.  It says “I certify that the person named in the Customer details section of this form has received the number of hours support shown in the Claim details section, and that this support is as agreed with Access to Work.”
 
The problem is that this is asking the support worker or agency to agree two things.  
 
1.  That they have provided you with the support you are claiming for.  They can agree this.
 
2.  That “this support is as agreed with Access to Work”.  If interpreters and agencies have not seen your ATW Award letter then they do not know if this is true, and so they cannot sign this. But if they do not sign this then your claim will not be accepted by ATW. 
 
What can you do for now?
 
Show interpreters or agencies your ATW Award letter (if you want to), so that they can sign this.
 
OR
 
The interpreter / agency could cross out the second part of the sentence, and write an explanation of why they have crossed it out, before signing. There is a risk that if they do this ATW will not pay the claim.
 
DeafATW and NUBSLI (their ATW Action group) have contacted ATW to explain why this is a problem, and ask them to change the form.

​Please let DeafATW know if you have any problems with this.

Natalya Dell has really helpfully created completable PDFs of Access to Work claim forms using Acrobat Pro. She has tried to make them as accessible as possible to anyone who needs them. 
 
You can download the following forms from her website:
 
DP226JP AtW Travel to Work Claim form (Completable PDF) 

DP228JP AtW Payment Information (new or amended details) Claim Form (Completable PDF) 

DP224JP AtW Equipment (SAE) and one-off costs claim form (completable PDF)
 
You should not download the DP222JP ATW Support Worker Claim form from her site as it is the old 2-page claim form. I will update the information here when the new 5-page claim form is added.

https://sites.google.com/site/natalyadell/home/accesstowork

The following three forms were created by David Smith, of B Reason-ABLE, who has agreed DeafATW can share them:

ATW Travel to Work claim form (DP226JP)*

Support Worker Record of Tasks V23 - Word*

3rd Party Consent form October 2015 - Word*

* DeafATW cannot promise that the forms here are the latest versions. If you see that ATW have made changes to a form, please let DeafATW know and send us copy of the updated form.

Really good news. Access to Work is developing and will soon be testing an online claims portal. When the portal is complete, you should be able to do the following things (although maybe not all of them will be available when it is first launched):
 

• Submit all of your claims online, including support worker invoices.
• Ask employers and support workers to verify (electronically sign) your claim online.   
• Change who needs to sign your form, e.g., if your manager is away on holiday.
• See how much of your award has been used and how much is left, based on the claims you have already sent in.
• See the status of claims you have sent through the portal, e.g., what has been submitted and what has been paid.
• Check your renewal date.

 
The portal is being worked on now and will be tested as it is developed, so we can't yet say when it will be ready. 

Update 21/3/22:
 
DeafATW, NUBSLI and RNID (and maybe other organisations) have all written to the DWP about the delay to renewals (see original post below). 
 
ATW has said that to solve this problem and deal with renewals more quickly they have introduced a new ‘light touch’ renewal process. 
 
DeafATW has now had feedback from some deaf people that, although they were told they would have to wait 12 to 16 weeks for their renewal, their award has in fact been agreed very quickly. 
 
From feedback it looks like this new ‘light touch’ process means people’s awards are being approved as they are now. This is really good if it helps ATW approve renewals faster, but there may be some problems.
 
(1)  If your award is capped, make sure that you check your award is renewed at the maximum for this year (£62,900 before 31/3/22, or the new maximum if your award is renewed from 1/4/22).
 
(2)  If you need to increase your budget or hourly rate, e.g., because interpreter fees are going up in line with inflation, you may need to make a change of circumstances request. (More information in this update).
 
Please let DeafATW know what happens with your renewal application, and if you have any problems.
 
If you want to be kept up to date with information about this issue, please sign up for updates from DeafATW.
 
Original post 3/9/22:
 
DeafATW is being contacted by people who are having problems with renewing their ATW award.  This problem seemed to start about November 2021.
 
People have been told different things, but the email DeafATW saw says that “current wait times to be allocated to an adviser is around 16 weeks from date of application but any award will be back-dated so there will be no gap in support.”
 
There are two problems with this:
 
1)  Most interpreters (and other support workers) can’t afford to work without being paid for many weeks or months. Interpreters may also be unwilling to take the risk of doing this work and not being paid in the end if something goes wrong.
 
2)  When you ask interpreters (etc.) to work, the contract is between you and the interpreters, not ATW and the interpreters. 
 
This means that if you ask interpreters to carry on working after your award, and ATW does not renew your award, or reduces it, you will be personally responsible for paying the interpreters for their work with you. (If your award is agreed, then you won’t have to pay anything, but you can’t know for sure that it will be agreed, even if it is likely to be.).

The ATW cap (maximum award / budget) is worked out as 2 x the National Average Salary (NAS). If the National Average Salary goes up, then the ATW cap goes up too.

The old cap from April 2020 to March 2021 is £60,700.  

The new cap from April 2021 to march 2022 is £62,900.  (This is an increase of just over 3.6%)
​
For information, see below for caps for all previous years since they started:

StopChanges2AtW have found that AtW are closing the cases of some Deaf and disabled people whilst they are furloughed. (Furloughed means off work because of Coronavirus, and being paid through the government scheme). They will then have to reapply for ATW when they return to work.

Click here to read more about this in English and BSL (takes you to StopChanges2AtW website).

Click here to see the information in BSL. (This information in BSL was shared by AtW a week after the English information was shared.  This is an improvement).

What are the extra changes?
 
(1)  If you are working from home, and need extra or different support, e.g. remote interpreting, you can ask AtW for this.
 
(2)  If you have health problems that mean you can’t safely use public transport for work at the moment, you can ask AtW for help with transport, e.g. taxis.
 
(3)  If you are anxious about going back to work, and need some support, you can ask AtW for some mental health support. You can get support for up to nine months.  (DeafATW asked AtW, and AtW said that you can get support in BSL with an interpreter).
 
(4)  If you had a letter saying that you are “extremely clinically vulnerable” then AtW will sort out your funding more quickly.
 
Click here to read AtW’s information about these changes in English. 

DeafATW was asked to join two groups who work with AtW to help them improve.  

1)  The AtW Stakeholder Forum. This is a group with people from lots of different organisations. They meet with AtW and bring feedback and suggestions from Deaf and disabled people about AtW.

2)  The AtW Easements Working Group. "Easements" is the word AtW uses to mean 'changes". This is group that meets with AtW and looks at the changes AtW makes because of Coronavirus and lockdown.

I shared the DeafATW survey with the AtW Easements Working Group. This meant that the problems that Deaf AtW users had, and their suggestions how things could improve, were shared with AtW.

Because there had been no information in BSL about the changes to AtW for the first few months of Coronavirus, the Easements Group wrote a letter to Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, about improving the way that changes to AtW are communicated in BSL and English.

In June DeafATW shared a survey with people on the DeafATW mailing list.  We asked three questions and had 40 responses. We can't share the full responses because they are confidential, but you can read our summary of the main themes, issues and suggestions.  The three questions were:
 
(1)  What changes have AtW made to help with COVID-19 that have been good changes that have helped you?   

(2)  How did you find out about these changes?  How clear was AtW information about these changes?  How can AtW communicate with you better about changes?   

(3)  What else could AtW have done to meet your needs during COVID-19 and lockdown?

Click here to download the summary.

AtW have produced information in BSL about the changes they have made to AtW support because of Coronavirus and lock down.  Click here to see all of their information about the changes in BSL.

It's good that AtW have done this, although the information in BSL was needed much earlier. We are continuing to campaign about this.  Thanks to everyone on the mailing list who fed back to us about this.

When AtW review your AtW Award and budget they look at how you have used your AtW budget for the past year.

If you are self-employed, this means they also look at your turnover for the last year. 

However, COVID-19 and the lockdown have affected many self-employed people's work and turnover, and AtW know this.  So when self-employed people have their next review, the impact of any COVID-19 related downturn will be ignored.

Similarly, the lockdown has affected many employed people, e.g. working from home, using more remote interpreting, working fewer hours, not working at all (being furloughed). AtW understand this, and you can expect that your AtW Award won't change or be cut just because of the impact of COVID-19.  (It may still need to change for other reasons, e.g. if the way you work has permanently changed).

This information has been checked with AtW.
​
​...

If there are any other changes, DeafATW will post them here and share them with the DeafATW mailing list.  At the moment, DeafATW have not been told of any other changes.

AtW have updated their factsheet for customers to include changes they're making to AtW because of COVID-19.  www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-work-factsheet

These changes are mostly the same as the changes that DeafATW has shared in earlier updates.  Please read these updates because I only explain new information in this update.

There are four things useful to say about the update:

1)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "If your support needs change".  It then says "If the support you need changes, for example because you have started to work from home, you need to tell Access to Work."

This means that you only need to tell AtW you are working at home if your support needs have changed.  If your support needs are the same, you don't have to tell AtW.

2)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "Assessments".  This says that if you apply for AtW and know what support you need, you don't need a workplace assessment.  

​If you don't know what support you need, an organisation (not AtW) will do the assessment over the phone.  Let that organisation know if you need the assessment done in BSL, e.g. through a video interpreting service.

3)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "Interpreters".  It then says "You need to tell Access to Work if you change the type of support you are using. For example, if you start using an online interpreting service instead of a BSL support worker." 

This advice looks different from the information that DeafATW shared in an update before. In this factsheet it seems to say that you should tell AtW if you change to use a remote interpreter instead of a face to face one. DeafATW has checked with ATW, and this means that if you stop using face-to-face interpreters and switch to a remote interpreting service and plan to carry on doing this in the future, then you should tell AtW. But if you are just using a remote interpreter because of Coronavirus, and will carry on using face-to-face interpreters in the future, then you don't need to tell AtW.

4)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "Claiming for costs".  It then says "If you cannot leave home or ask someone else to post your claim for costs, contact your Access to Work adviser and ask if you can send your claim by email. They will tell you what you need to do. You can also send the email from your employer or your support worker by email."

This means that if you can't post your claim form you should contact your AtW adviser and ask them how you can email your claim form to AtW.

This information has been checked with AtW.

This information has been updated to say that the advice in the earlier AtW update is still correct after the updated customer factsheet was published.  (For number 3 above).

Because AtW have fewer staff, they are trying to do the most urgent things more quickly.

If you have an AtW application in for a new job starting in 4 weeks or less, AtW will try to do this as as a priority.

This information has been checked with AtW.