Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for how long her Department has required Access to Work claimants to provide invoices for the services of their self-employed support workers; and what guidance and notification was given to Access to Work claimants about that change of practice.

Access to Work grant funding is awarded and claimed in arrears with the customer being responsible for ensuring claim forms and the appropriate documentation is attached. This is either receipts, invoices or appropriate documentation demonstrating the support costs that have been incurred. This is a requirement of verification and assurance that the public funds are issued for the purpose for which they were intended. There has been no change to the requirements of supporting information when claiming and as such there is no guidance or notification given to the Access to Work claimants.