Access to Work

Clive Mason investigates a government scheme set up to help deaf and disabled people in the workplace, Access to Work.

In the last year it has seen lots of changes directly affecting thousands of deaf people who use the service - with seemingly arbitrary new guidelines introduced then suspended, widely varying settlements for clients, interpreters seeing their maximum hourly rates slashed and claims going unpaid for months on end. Many deaf people are calling for an overhaul, with a government inquiry under way.

How are these changes affecting deaf people in the workplace, and why might they be happening?