Neurodivergent People: Employment Debate
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Claire Young
Main Page: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)Department Debates - View all Claire Young's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
Neurodivergent People: Employment
Claire Young Excerpts(2 days, 16 hours ago)
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Charlotte Cane
Absolutely. It needs to be much faster in doing the assessments and delivering the payments.
One of Mona’s staff experienced a traumatic event that made it difficult to manage work without more regular therapy, so they applied to Access to Work. They were told that they could not be supported because they were already accessing one monthly therapy session, albeit they are paying for that privately and they cannot afford to pay for any more. They face the prospect of having to cancel their vital therapy to apply on the basis that they might get help, and in their own words:
“The message seem to be stop getting the help you need, wait months for a decision, and then maybe we’ll support you.”
Another local business, Red2Green, said the payments are so slow that it is difficult for small organisations to claim the money back, and it gives them huge cashflow problems. I have talked to individuals who have withdrawn from doing this work because they cannot afford to wait over three months before they get paid. Red2Green also told me that some neurodivergent people cannot make phone calls or advocate for themselves, but under the Access to Work scheme, it has to be them who applies, not the employer.
Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)
Does my hon. Friend agree it is ironic that, when neurodivergent people commonly experience executive functioning difficulties, applying for Access to Work requires them to have good skills in that area, and people actually need support to access support?
Charlotte Cane
That is absolutely true, and I have seen people trying to deal with filling in the forms. These people are likely to be dyslexic or have similar conditions, so they will inevitably have real trouble with those forms. A scheme designed to grow inclusion and increase support should really do better than that.
I hope the Minister will provide a clear update on what action the Government are taking to clear the backlog and what more can be done to make its responses faster and speed up payments. Specialist apprenticeships, as we have heard, would go a long way to helping neurodivergent people into work, with expert support on a daily basis through their employment. That would provide tailored, individual work plans that take their condition into account, allowing them to get work experience while having space to adapt.