Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to promote Access to Work.

Although our approach has primarily been to work with Remploy and other partners and charities, using their effective networks and channels to reach potential recipients, we have also incurred some expenditure in marketing the scheme and the figures are set out below. We have also worked extensively to promote the Access to Work Scheme via Disability confident with stakeholders and partners such as the impairment specific charities and health practitioners.

Promotion of the Access to Work Scheme

The most recent published statistics show that the number of people who had any Access to Work provision approved in 2016/17 increased by nearly 8% from 2015/16.

Access to work remains a demand led programme but the figures relating to the overall Access to Work spend are set out in the additional table below.

Spend on the Access to Work Scheme

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest £m.

Our most recent official experimental statistics that providea breakdown of different disabilities and conditions for the number of people who had Access to Work provision approved can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics.

Finally, the information relating to how many applications were made and successful in England, Scotland and Wales in the last five years is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics.