Access to Work Award

Ode to Joy, Access to Work has agreed to fund me for a further two years. The first two applications for A2W in my current job granted me the maximum three-year award; for some reason, my last two applications have awarded me A2W for a one year and a two-year period. While two years funding is preferable to a single year, the inconsistency of these awards is puzzling.

Last year I was not given a satisfactory explanation for my award dropping from three years to one year. However, as I was undergoing some mental health issues at the time, and weighing things up, I decided my MH was more important to me than the energy-sapping process of an appeal.

When I spoke to the A2W officer a few weeks ago she explained that as my records showed no evidence of me receiving DLA this could impact on the duration of the award. When I explained that I’d been in receipt of Mobility Allowance for 30 years and the HR DLA since 2000 the officer actually responded sceptically stating that since A2W had no record of this then I might be mistaken. 

WTF? 

So, I contacted the DLA office and requested a proof of benefit letter which I sent on to the doubtful officer. Yet even armed with this information I still didn’t manage to secure the maximum award. It appears that if you have the temerity to stand up to these bureaucrats and argue your corner they still manage to stitch you up. 

The DWP is notorious for its ‘go-ahead-we-don’t-care’ attitude to appeals. It is glaringly evident that the DWP has no regard whatsoever for the criminally wasteful misspending of its budget. Their philosophy seems to be money is no object as long as it is not going to improve the lives of disabled people.