At The Inclusivity Group, we work every day to champion the rights of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people across the UK. Through our two specialist providers – Complete Communication and Complete Independence – we deliver the tailored support people need to access employment, education, and community life.

But right now, that support is under threat.

The UK Government has released a Green Paper titled “Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working”. On the surface, the aim sounds positive – to help more people into employment. However, the detail raises serious concerns. If these proposals go ahead, they could significantly reduce the financial and practical support available to disabled people and create more barriers to work, not fewer.

Read the Green Paper here. 

The consultation is open until 22 July 2025, and we’re urging everyone affected – and those who care – to respond and contact their MP.

Who We Are

Complete Communication provides BSL/English interpreters, lipspeakers, notetakers, STTRs, and other communication professionals to help people take part fully in the workplace and public life.

Complete Independence supports disabled and neurodivergent clients with one-to-one job coaching, assistive tech training, workplace strategy coaching, and more – all funded through schemes like Access to Work.

Between us, we support hundreds of people every month. We’ve seen the difference timely, adequate support can make. But lately, we’ve also seen how damaging the current Access to Work delays and cuts have become – and things may soon get worse.

How Access to Work Cuts Are Already Hurting People

The situation with Access to Work has been deteriorating for months. People are waiting longer, receiving less, or losing support entirely. Some of our clients’ experiences highlight just how serious this is:

• One client has been waiting since December 2024 for Access to Work to reconsider their support following a promotion. The new role comes with greater responsibilities – but without the right support in place, they’re stuck. Despite repeated contact, there’s still no decision.
• Another client had two out of three long-standing support provisions removed without warning. The third was cut by over 70%. These were services they’d relied on for years.
• One person we supported had to leave their job completely because the support they’d been promised never materialised.
• Two more clients were awarded BSL interpreting budgets that fall well below current market rates. That means they can’t find interpreters willing to work within the funding available.

These aren’t one-off stories. They’re part of a pattern. And with the new proposals in the Green Paper, that pattern could soon become policy.

What’s Being Proposed?

The Pathways to Work Green Paper includes some very worrying ideas:

• A major overhaul of PIP, with suggestions that certain groups may no longer be eligible.
• More frequent and inflexible reassessments – even for those with lifelong conditions.
• A new system where support may be “tiered,” potentially leaving many without the full help they need.
• An increase in “conditionality” – meaning people could be penalised if they’re not seen to be meeting certain targets.

The direction of travel is clear: less trust, more surveillance, and tighter control over who is “deserving” of support.

Why This Matters?

Access to Work is one of the few government schemes that works – or at least, it did. When properly funded and managed, it allows people to access jobs, retain employment, and work to their full potential.

It’s not about giving people an advantage – it’s about levelling the playing field.

When Access to Work fails, it’s not just individuals who lose out. Employers lose skilled team members. Society loses the value of diverse talent. The economy loses potential.

This Green Paper threatens to widen the disability employment gap, not close it.

What You Can Do!

• Take part in the consultation – Share your views before 22 July 2025.
• Write to your MP – Tell them how the proposed changes would impact you or people you support.
• Use the resources at Taking The PIP – https://takingthepip.co.uk
• Talk about it – Raise awareness in your community, workplace, or online.

Key Points

• The Pathways to Work Green Paper could lead to significant cuts to disability support.
• Access to Work is already under pressure – clients are experiencing delays, funding cuts and job losses.
• Proposed changes risk increasing inequality and pushing people out of work.
• The consultation is open until 22 July 2025.
• Use TakingThePIP.co.uk to support the campaign.

This is not just a policy issue – it’s a human one. Let’s make sure the people most affected are heard.