RNID blames red tape for hindering access scheme

The
Government’s scheme to help employers recruit deaf people is failing, a leading
charity claims.

The
Royal National Institute for the Deaf accuses the Government’s Access to Work
scheme, which refunds the extra costs incurred by employers when hiring deaf
people, of being too bureaucratic.

The
RNID wants the Government to process applications within four weeks and promote
the scheme more strongly.

The
charity also found that out of 400 employers who took part in a survey, half
were unaware of the Access to Work scheme.

Barbara
Green, facilities administrator at Middlesex University, told delegates at an
RNID breakfast briefing last week that the typical cost of installing equipment
for deaf people was £350.

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Green
has a progressive hearing disorder, but communicates effectively at work
through textphones and BT’s Typetalk service, which uses an interpreter to
translate text messages.

Labour
MP Derek Foster, of the House of Commons select committee for education and
employment, said, “More must be done to make the business case for employing
disabled people.”