Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the Access to Work application process and ongoing communications for people with different disabilities and (b) what steps he is taking to ensure the scheme is accessible for disabled people.

It is very important that Access to Work is accessible for people with different disabilities. As such, we currently offer several different communication methods before and during the application process. For example, applications can be made online at Access to Work: Apply for an Access to Work grant - GOV.UK, by phone via the Access to Work Helpline, via Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone) or via the British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service. We normally require that evidence documents must be submitted by post for security reasons, however we also accept correspondence by email for those who require this as a reasonable adjustment.

As part of our continuous efforts to improve accessibility, we are also currently developing a new digital capability that will allow customers to upload documents online.