Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average time taken was from the date an Access to Work application was submitted to the date a decision was made in the 2024-25 financial year.

The longest wait time during April 2024 – March 2025, from the date submitted to the date the decision was made was 393 days

The shortest wait time during April 2024 – March 2025, from the date submitted to the date the decision was made was 1 day

The average wait time during April 2024 – March 2025, from the date submitted to the date the decision was made was 56.9 days

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.

We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work and are considering the best way to deliver that for customers. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims and applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.

The Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to get Britain Working’ Green Paper was published on 18 March. Alongside the Access to Work reform proposals introduced in the Green Paper, we are considering further options to reduce the waiting time for customers.