Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the covid-19 lockdown on the operation of the Access to Work programme; and if she will make a statement.

Access to Work is continuing to provide support for people with a disability or health condition whether they are working in the workplace or are working from home. Access to Work service delivery teams are deploying available resources in line with the agreed priority areas and responding flexibly to meet customer demand. DWP remains committed to ensuring disabled people continue to receive support they need to move into and maintain employment and has prioritised payments.

In addition, to support disabled people during COVID-19 Access to Work has introduced various measures, these include:

• Prioritising new applications from key workers and those with jobs starting within the next 4 weeks;
• Extending the timeframe customers have to submit payment claim forms to 9 months;
• Accepting employer and support worker signatures via email;
• Extending Support Worker awards that are coming to an end by 6 months;
• Adapting the way our assessments are undertaken to support customers who don’t know what support they need and/or where coping strategies are required as part of the Mental Health Support Service.
• Accepting e mail claim forms from customers who request this as a reasonable adjustment