Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether an Access to Work scheme has been implemented in their Department.

Access to Work is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which contributes to the disability-related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition in the workplace that are beyond standard reasonable adjustments. It does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments.

In 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took over responsibility for providing adjustments that would previously have been funded through Access to Work, for civil servants working in their department. This removed the need for DWP staff to apply for Access to Work. In April 2022, all Government departments followed suit and assumed responsibility for providing such adjustments for their staff.