Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme in supporting disabled people to (a) enter and (b) remain in employment; and what steps he is taking to (i) reduce delays, (ii) improve administrative efficiency, and (iii) ensure adequate funding of the scheme.

Access to Work (AtW) is a demand-led, personalised discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of disabled people in employment. The Scheme has been providing support for over 30 years.

In 2024-2025, 61,670 people were approved for Access to Work provision. This is around a 10% increase when compared to 2023/24. Expenditure on Access to Work provision was around £320.7 million, which supported around 60,000 disabled people in employment.

We recognise that Access to Work is providing a poor experience for some applicants with processing delays affecting employees’ ability to start or continue in employment, and employers’ ability to support them.

That is why in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we consulted on the future of Access to Work and how to improve the scheme so that it helps more disabled people in work. We are reviewing all aspects of Access to Work as we develop plans for reform following the conclusion of the consultation.