Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to integrate the Access to Work fast track scheme into the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme.

Participants finding work through Work and Health Programme Job Entry: Targeted Support can get support from their employment adviser to make transition into employment including support with Access to Work process.

Participants who are successful in securing a job offer, and submit their application to Access to Work within 4 weeks of their start date will have their application automatically prioritised by Access to Work.

Background

Access to Work already prioritises applications from key workers, people who are in the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Group and disabled people who have a job to start within the next 4 weeks. If Access to Work was to extend the prioritisation further then the ability to prioritise applications would be lost as the majority of Access to Work applications would be in the prioritised category, which would result in all applications being treated the same and the prioritisation would be lost.