Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff are allocated to processing Access to Work applications; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of that number.

The current number of case managers allocated to processing Access to Work applications is 307.7 full-time equivalent (FTE).

We are committed to reducing waiting times for Access to Work. We have increased the number of staff processing Access to Work claims by 27% and applications from customers who are about to start a job or who are renewing are prioritised.

The Green Paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work which has now concluded. We are considering responses to the consultation and will set out our plans in due course.