Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of support available through Access to Work for people with cystic fibrosis (a) with and (b) without (i) transport and (ii) rural connectivity barriers to employment in Wiltshire.

The Access to Work Scheme provides grant funding for workplace adjustments that go beyond an employer’s duty to provide reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. The Scheme can provide support for those in work or about to start work for a wide range of health conditions, such as Cystic Fibrosis, including support to travel to and in work.

In 2018, the Department commissioned NatCen, an independent social research organisation, to explore the feasibility of evaluating the impacts of Access to Work. The report uncovered several challenges determining the impacts of Access to Work mainly around identifying an appropriate counterfactual and the difficulties in constructing a comparison group.

To assess the role of Access to Work in supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions to enter and stay in work, the Department commissioned qualitative evaluations of Access to Work in most recently in 2018, and 2009. The 2018 evaluation ‘Access to Work: Qualitative research with applicants, employers and delivery staff’ gathered evidence on the value of Access to Work to employers and employees.

The 2009 evaluation: ‘Evaluation of Access to Work: Core Evaluation’ explored customer, employer, assessor and other views relating to: marketing and awareness, application process, assessments, outcomes, impact and areas for improvement.