Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme in supporting disabled people into (a) sustained employment and (b) meaningful work experience.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No changes have been made to Access to Work policy. We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation has closed. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.
We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of changes to Access to Work funding on job coaching and support service providers.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No changes have been made to Access to Work policy, and we will announce any changes prior to them being implemented.
The Department faces significant challenges assessing the effectiveness of Access to Work due to the difficulty in establishing a counterfactual.
We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation has closed. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.
We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders, and in particular disabled people and their representatives, on all aspects of our proposals.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of providers that have ceased offering Access to Work services due to (a) systemic delays and (b) insufficient funding since January 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have interpreted “providers” to mean support workers, third parties, and stakeholders who deliver support to Access to Work customers.
The Department does not hold data on how many providers may have ceased offering Access to Work services due to (a) systemic delays or (b) insufficient funding since January 2025.
Access to Work operates as a reimbursement grant, the service or support must be provided before payment is made. The customer is the recipient of the grant and claims for the support they have used, not the provider. As such, the Department does not monitor providers or track whether they have ceased offering Access to Work services.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of complaints submitted by disabled service users to the Access to Work scheme which were not resolved within the 20-working-day target in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The standard definition of a complaint across DWP is:
Any expression of dissatisfaction about the service provided which is not resolved by operational staff as normal business.
An ‘Official’’ complaint would be received in writing and usually via the local MP or authorised advocate on behalf of the customer. These complaints would be logged and dealt with in line with our official complaints policy.
‘Official’ complaints have a 20-working day target.
During the period 01/11/2024 – 31/10/2025, 106 were received and 3 were not resolved within the target date.
‘Other’ complaints are also received but are dealt with informally as part of normal business and are usually handled in real-time by our DWP Telephony staff.
Other complaints have a 15-working day target.
During the period 01/11/2024 – 31/10/2025, 909 were received and 4 were not resolved within the target date.
What is not a complaint
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.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure people with (a) learning disabilities and (b) mental health challenges receive (i) adequate and (ii) consistent support through Access to Work.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
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. Since Access to Work was first designed, the style, scope and cost of the support that people require has changed significantly, yet Access to Work has stayed broadly the same. There is a strong case for looking at the future role and purpose of Access to Work, as part of the wider changes to Get Britain Working.
We have recently concluded (end of June) the Access to Work Collaboration Committees, in which we engaged with a range of stakeholders, including Disabled People’s Organisation representatives and lived experience users, to provide discussion, experience, and challenge to the design of the future Access to Work Scheme. Whilst the committees have now ended, we will seek opportunity to engage with stakeholders as we move forward with policy development, recognising the value of their input and expertise. We will be reviewing all aspects of the Scheme now that the consultation has closed.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to form a UK inventory of gas critical (a) parts and (b) products.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (1998) place a legal requirement on those who undertake gas work to be competent and Gas Safe Registered. The Gas Safe Register Rules of Registration require engineers to carry an in-date, valid ID card which displays who the holder is, and what gas work they are competent to perform. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continue to advise consumers to always verify the identity and credentials of engineers or persons entering their property.
HSE has no power to form a UK inventory of gas critical parts and products or restrict online or physical sale of gas appliances or parts.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken by her Department to make decisions relating to disability benefits.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
To reduce decision times for disability benefits, we have deployed additional staff and we continue to prioritise urgent cases while monitoring demand and addressing backlogs where necessary. These actions have led to faster processing of new claims, with clearance times for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children reducing significantly. We have also increased staffing in Access to Work (AtW) and we are prioritising urgent applications. This is alongside reviewing our policy framework to explore opportunities to further reduce processing times for AtW applications. We are also allocating additional resource to disputes activity to improve processing times for Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals across PIP and DLA.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to help ensure the adequacy of Access to Work grants to fund the support requirements of employers offering placements.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Funding has been secured to continue the scheme for the entire Spending Review period.
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. Since Access to Work was first designed, the style, scope and cost of the support that people require has changed significantly, yet Access to Work has stayed broadly the same.
We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course. The findings from this will inform the chosen future direction of Access to Work. Once this is established, we will consider timelines and work closely with stakeholders to ensure an appropriate transition.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for MP caseworker teams contacting his Department's correspondence email address.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department treats correspondence from Members of Parliament as a high priority. We are committed to improving response times and have taken steps to enhance the timeliness of replies to MP emails sent to the Department’s correspondence address.
Over the past six months, we have seen a significant increase in the volume of correspondence. To address this, the Ministerial Correspondence Team is deploying additional resource, streamlining processes and improving systems.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department hold on the average processing time for Access to Work grant applications for work experience placements.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold data on the average processing time for Access to Work grant applications specifically for work experience placements. These applications are included within the overall processing times for Access to Work.
For details on the average processing time for Access to Work grant applications from April to June 2025, please refer to the answer I gave on 3 July 2025 to Question UIN 63906.