Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications to the Access to Work Scheme were outstanding as of 26 January 2023 in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland.

There was a total of 24,565 applications to the Access to Work scheme outstanding as of 26 January 2023. We do not hold the information separately for (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland.

Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and we have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications, where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure that customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.