Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure the Access to Work fast track scheme is available to all disabled workers who need reasonable adjustments to be able to work during the covid-19 outbreak.

Access to Work already prioritises applications from disabled people who have a job to start within 4 weeks of their application. Recognising the impact Covid has had on disabled people, Access to Work has expanded the prioritisation to include those in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group and keyworkers. Applications will be fast tracked to ensure that the employer and the disabled person are supported in the workplace from the outset.

Background

Access to Work (ATW) is a demand-led, discretionary grant to de-risk the recruitment and retention of disabled people for employers. The grant contributes to the disability related extra costs of working faced by disabled people and those with a health condition that are beyond reasonable adjustment, but it does not replace an employer’s duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments. The grant provides personalised support and can provide workplace assessments, travel to/in work, support workers, specialist aids and equipment for individuals to enable disabled people and those with a health condition to move into or retain employment. And can fund up to £60,700 worth of flexible, personalised support per person per year.

Recognising the challenges Covid-19 has for employers and disabled people, Access to Work has introduced a new more flexible offer to support disabled people to move into and retain employment. The new offer complements support provided by employers and contains a flexible mix of support that can be adapted to meet the needs of new Covid-19 working arrangements. The offer includes:

• support to work from more than one location,
• a package of home working support which can be blended with workplace support,
• mental health wellbeing support for people returning to work after a period of furlough or shielding,
• travel-to-work support for those who may no longer be able to safely travel by public transport due to the nature of their disability, and
• prioritising Access to Work applications from disabled people in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group.

If Access to Work were to extend the categories of prioritisation further, the ability to prioritise applications would be lost as the majority of Access to Work applications would be in the prioritised category, resulting in all applications being treated the same.