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 improve information for (a) job seekers and (b) employees on the support available through Access to Work.

Access to Work continues to undertake targeted marketing and awareness raising activities. For example, the scheme is promoted to benefit claimants through Jobcentre Plus and to a range of business leaders through the Disability Confident scheme. We have also worked with a variety of stakeholder organisations to market Access to Work to their clients, including sharing information about how individuals can apply for support.

We are currently testing a number of communication activities to raise awareness of Access to Work among Jobcentre Plus staff in Greater Manchester, in order to equip work coaches with the knowledge to have conversations with customers who may require in work support. We will evaluate the most successful methods before a national roll-out.

Access to Work is also reviewing the content and formats of its existing information channels, including considering how to achieve more effective use of alternative formats such as British Sign Language videos.