Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the average time taken to process applications to Access to Work from applicants in employment.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to reducing waiting times for new applications for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims, applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing claims are prioritised.

The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers.

From April 2024 to February 2025, the average waiting time from initial date of contact to a decision being made stands at 56.9 days.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in 2018 and 2009.

The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.

The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.

Also in 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of AtW: ‘Feasibility of evaluating the impact of the Access to Work programme' . The report uncovered several challenges, mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group. We therefore face challenges with conducting an impact evaluation of AtW.

We are consulting on the future of the AtW scheme in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK,

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Royal National Institute of Blind People's "Visibly Better Employer" quality standard.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We welcome the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s initiative to encourage employers to create inclusive workplaces through the Visibly Better Employer standard to attract and retain more blind and partially sighted individuals in the workforce.

Through the Department’s Disability Confident Scheme newsletter, we have made members aware of the quality standard. The Disability Confident Scheme provides employers with the skills and knowledge to remove barriers that might be preventing disabled people and those with long term health conditions from accessing employment and allows them opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether employers will be required to produce action plans for tacking disability pay gaps under the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, as is the case for gender pay gap reporting.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

On 18 March 2025, the Government launched a consultation on mandatory pay gap reporting for both disability and ethnicity. Responses to the consultation will help to shape proposals which will be included in the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which was announced in the King’s Speech in July 2024. One of the questions we are consulting on is the potential role that action plans might play in reducing the disability pay gap. We will use the consultation responses to develop the proposed legislation, which will include considering whether there should be a requirement for large employers to produce action plans.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the Access to Work scheme backlog.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.

The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers.

Found: 2025 2.45 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Baroness Rock (The Chair); Lord Addington; Baroness Browning

Found: Having said that, I now invite Baroness Browning to ask the first question.

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Found: evidence Monday 28 April 2025 4 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Baroness Rock (The Chair); Baroness Browning

Found: Q62 Baroness Browning: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming.

Found: Baroness Rock Chair Lord Addington Baroness Browning Page

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