Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken for Access to Work on disabled people unable to (a) start and (b) sustain employment.

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.