Access to Work Programme: Self-employed

(asked on 16th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Access to Work scheme supports disabled people who are self-employed.


Answered by
Justin Tomlinson Portrait
Justin Tomlinson
This question was answered on 24th May 2019

We have undertaken significant reform of Access to Work, but there are still further opportunities for improvements and we are committed to listening to our customers and stakeholders.

For example, to address points raised about the Access to Work self-employment customer journey in the DWP research report ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’, published in November 2018, we worked closely with customers and stakeholders to identify the issues and develop a new self-employment customer journey for freelancers and contractors.

To support this work, we are also developing an Access to Work ‘Workplace Adjustments Passport’, comprising a current record of an Access to Work customer’s support needs. This ‘passport’ is designed to be shared with new employers and commissioners, so that Access to Work customers who change jobs or move between contracts can be sure that their support needs are known in advance and adjustments may be put in place swiftly.

We will be announcing the detail of these new reforms later in the year.

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