Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of differences in waiting times for Access to Work, including (a) initial assessment, (b) approval and (c) commencement of support between regions.

The Department does not hold the information in a format that allows waiting times to be analysed by region.

Access to Work applications are managed through a national queue and processed in date order, meaning that a customer’s region does not determine waiting time.

Information on the commencement of support is not collected, as it is for customers to put agreed support in place following approval.