DEAF chief executive David Buxton lost a legal challenge yesterday to a cap on payments to help cover the extra costs of working with a disability.

Mr Buxton uses British sign language (BSL) as his first language and requires full-time interpretation, historically provided under the access to work (ATW) scheme, to do his job.

He needed increased support when he joined “hearing-led organisation” Action on Disability in 2017, but the £42,100 annual cap meant Mr Buxton could only be supported by an interpreter for three days a week.

In June, the High Court heard that ATW was “a hugely effective means of enabling disabled people to enter into and stay in employment” and that the cap disproportionately affected deaf people.

Mr Justice Kerr, however, dismissed Mr Buxton’s case, ruling that the Department for Work & Pensions had not breached the public-sector equality duty and that any indirect discrimination caused by the cap was a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.”

Mr Buxton said the government decision to raise the cap before the hearing was “a great result, making a lot more money available to deaf and disabled people.”

But he added that the Equality Act did not properly protect deaf people, saying: “The government supports the economies of cost over our basic human rights, therefore we have to campaign for the Equality Act to be strengthened.”

His solicitor Louise Whitfield from Deighton Pierce Glynn said Mr Buxton would not appeal but would focus on a judicial review on the inclusion of deaf people on jury service to “further test the government to show its commitment to the spirit of the Equality Act.”

The Department for Work & Pensions has been approached for comment.