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 her Department's Access to Work Scheme.

Research has demonstrated the value Access to Work delivers for people with disabilities and employers: Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The research found “Nearly everyone felt it offered invaluable support for individuals with health conditions and/or disabilities, and their employers – often transforming difficult situations (e.g. in which employees were struggling to continue in work, or employee-employer relationships were deteriorating).”

DWP continues to work closely with disability organisations to review, improve and transform the service it provides to ensure it is as effective as possible. This includes developing a new digital service that will deliver an improved customer experience. The effectiveness of the scheme is demonstrated by its growth as indicated in the Access to Work Official Statistics which shows the number of people receiving Access to Work provision has grown considerably since 2015/16. Although there was a slight decline in 2020/21 reflecting reduced use of travel to work and support worker help during the Covid-19 pandemic.