Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to fund the access to work programme for the rest of this parliament.

We are pleased to confirm continued funding for the Access to Work Scheme, which helps disabled people and those with health conditions to stay and remain in the workplace. Funding has been secured to continue the scheme for the entire Spending Review period. Following the close of the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation at the end of June, we are considering all responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course. We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the consultation has closed. We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives, on all aspects of our proposals.

In addition to the consultation itself, we also established ‘collaboration committees’ that brought groups, including disabled people and other experts, to inform the design of the support we offer.