Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department issues to Access to Work case managers on reducing costs.

At present no guidance has been issued explicitly advising Access to Work Case Managers on reducing costs. There is however guidance related to:

• the banded rate information for the different types of Support Worker (SW)
• the requirement for three quotes for the Special Aids and Equipment (SAE) element when the cost of an item is £1000 or more
• the links to websites that provide suggested taxi fare rates
• and the overarching principles of Access to Work which include value for money

which provide guidance to case managers on reasonable costs and to provide value for money.