UK Council on Deafness

December 2003 Parliamentary Report

In this Report

• Access to Work Scheme - Commons Written Answers (11 Dec 2003)
• Access to Work Scheme - Commons Written Answers (15 Dec 2003)
• Occupational Deafness - Commons Written Answers (16 Dec 2003)
• Access to Work Scheme - Commons Written Answers (17 Dec 2003)

Commons Written Answers (11 Dec 2003)
Access to Work Scheme

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) deaf, (b) blind and (c) deaf-blind people have applied for the Access to Work scheme in each year since its introduction; and how many have been successful in their application; how many appeals against refusals were lodged; how many were found in favour of the claimant since the introduction of the scheme; and how many people are receiving support under the Access to Work scheme.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not routinely collected and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The total number of people receiving Access to Work support in 2002-03 was 36,606; of these 15,199 were new applicants.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what initiatives he is planning to increase (a) awareness and (b) uptake of the Access to Work scheme.

Maria Eagle: Information on all our disability services is available from Jobcentre Plus offices, and is also available on the Jobcentre Plus web site (www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk). The web address is included in our publicity material.

Jobcentre Plus invests around £300,000 each year on marketing and publicising its specialised services and programmes for disabled people, including Access to Work. Promotional material is available in a range of media such as leaflets, audiotapes and videos.

Disability Employment Advisers meet regularly with local employers to promote the full range of services available to disabled people, including Access to Work. In addition, many organisations for disabled people actively promote Access to Work to their members, and some also include information about the programme on their website.

The number of people helped through Access to Work has increased year on year since 1996. In 1997-98, 12,825 people received support; that had risen to 36,606 in 2002-03.

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Commons Written Answers (15 Dec 2003)
Access to Work Scheme

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Access to Work applicants (a) have applied for sign language interpreting support and (b) have been successful since the introduction of the Access to Work scheme; what the average amount of hours of interpreter support awarded has been; and what the average award to people applying for human aids to communication through the Access to Work scheme has been.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not routinely collected and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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Commons Written Answers (16 Dec 2003)
Occupational Deafness

Mr. Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases lodged before the Medical Appeals Tribunal in 2002-03 concerned occupational deafness; and how many were successful.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Christina Townsend Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. She will reply to the hon. Member.

Letter from Christina Townsend to Mr. Mahmood, dated 16 December 2003:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question regarding the number of cases lodged before Medical Appeal Tribunals in 2002-03 concerning occupational deafness.

Appeals tribunals succeeded Medical Appeal Tribunals in 1999. The attached table shows the number of appeals lodged, those cleared at hearing and the number found in favour of the appellant. I hope this reply is helpful.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) appeals due to Occupational Deafness in the period 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003

All Appeals Lodged, 42,510. All Appeals Cleared at hearing 178,350. All Appeals Found in favour of the appellant 80,815.

All IIDB appeals lodged 18,355. All IIDB appeals cleared at hearing 15,860. All appeals found in favour of the appellant 6,140.

IIDB occupational deafness appeals lodged 395. IIDB occupational deafness appeals cleared at hearing 355. IIDB occupational deafness appeals found in favour of the appellant 70.

Notes: All figures are subject to change as more up to date data becomes available. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.

Source: IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. sample.

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Commons Written Answers (17 Dec 2003)
Access to Work Scheme

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training in deaf-blind awareness staff assessing deaf-blind applicants for the Access to Work scheme have had; and if he will publish the guidelines under which Access to Work advisers work.

Maria Eagle: Access to Work staff can commission the services of specialist assessors, who have the necessary qualifications and proven experience to provide a thorough assessment of applicants needs.

We will shortly be consulting organisations of and for the deaf-blind, about developing open learning material for Jobcentre Plus staff on the employment of deaf-blind people.

In common with other Jobcentre Plus guidance for staff, Access to Work guidance is produced in electronic form for staff to access and read on-line through the Department's intranet. Leaflets describing the Access to Work programme are available for individuals and employers. Relevant extracts from the guidance can be made available to individuals or organisations in response to specific inquiries.

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