Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the support that Access To Work provides for applicants who are transitioning between jobs.

To protect employment opportunities, case managers prioritise Access to Work applications where the customer is due to start a job within four weeks. In 2025, we allocated around 96% of applications starting work within 4 weeks in 28 days, including those transitioning between jobs.

The Department recently published a new Access to Work research report, Journeys to Access to Work, which was delivered by NatCen and builds on earlier research with Access to Work customers and employers. The report summarises applicants’ and employers’ journeys to Access to Work, their experiences of the application process and delivery of the scheme, perceptions of its impact and recommendations for improvement. This includes how Access to Work operates in addition to and beyond reasonable adjustments and other sources of workplace or external support.