Liz Sayce on You and Yours

Thu,10 July 2014
News

Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of Disability Rights UK, was on BBC radio 4's You and Yours Programme, yesterday, to talk about Access to Work.

Access to Work is designed to give disabled people the help they need to get a job. But You and Yours has learned that people are now having their support re-assessed if they don't earn enough.

The feature is in two parts. Part 1 features Julie Fernandez, star of 'the Office' and 'Eldorado'. Julie runs a craft business, which employs 13 people. She is dependent on the support available under the Access to Work scheme but has recently been told that it may be withdrawn because her business does not make enough money.

Liz Sayce is in part 2 of the programme.She cites the progress that has been made on Access to Work policy  - for instance extending it to work experience, removing cost sharing for small businesses – which could be really important building blocks to turning the programme into a successful passport to employment. However, an excessive emphasis on cost containment is tying people up in bureaucracy and stopping people getting the support they need to get and keep employment.

See also a report of the show on the Disability Advice Project website.