Disabled People: Access to Work Fund Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateBaroness Wilkins
Main Page: Baroness Wilkins (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Wilkins's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(9 years, 4 months ago)
Lords ChamberI reassure the right reverend Prelate that we will continue to support deaf people and people with hearing loss. Specialist teams will help customers and their employers with advice on adjustments and technological support and with personal budgets so that users can manage their support flexibly themselves when the scheme is rolled out later in 2015-16. We are also in discussions with relevant stakeholders about how best to plan the implementation. As I said, existing customers will be protected until 2018 while we work through the transition.
My Lords, how will the department monitor the impact of the cap on Access to Work funding from the day it is introduced?
We will carefully monitor all our programmes. Access to Work is one of the many programmes that we have introduced and are planning to roll out to protect the disabled and help them to work if they want to, as many do. Last year, we ensured that nearly a quarter of a million more disabled people had work. That is a tremendous success, and our programmes are working.