UK Inquiry Tracker

The Access to Work scheme

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 12 Dec 2025 Parliament page

The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) funds and administers the Access to Work scheme. Introduced in 1994, it is designed to help disabled people and those with health conditions. Support can take the form of an assessment exploring barriers to employment in a workplace and making recommendations to overcoming … Read more The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) funds and administers the Access to Work scheme. Introduced in 1994, it is designed to help disabled people and those with health conditions. Support can take the form of an assessment exploring barriers to employment in a workplace and making recommendations to overcoming them, and can fund practical support to supplement employers’ legally-mandated reasonable adjustments. Grants can also pay for specialist aids and equipment, costs of travel to work, and support workers. Government published proposals to reform Access to Work in March 2025. Demand for and spending on Access to Work has recently significantly increased. The number of people approved by DWP for support or a workplace assessment, or both, rose by 83% to 67,720 in 2023-24. Spending on the scheme increased over the same period by 72% from £149.9m to £257.8m in cash terms. This has resulted in significant backlogs in the scheme. Separately, in July 2025 the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) highlighted DWP’s seeming complacency in the face of a work coach shortage. In January of the same year, the PAC warned that disability benefits claimants were receiving an unacceptably poor level of service from DWP, with underpayment rates highest for those on these benefits. In 2026, the National Audit Office (NAO) publishes its report looking at challenges in the operation of Access to Work. Proceeding from the NAO’s findings, the PAC will take evidence from senior DWP officials on how the Department is addressing these challenges, with likely topics including what impact backlogs have had on claimants and employers. If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Thursday 26 February 2026 . Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. The Committee decides what information to publish and how. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is for the Committee to say whether it will agree.It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues. Show less

1 Oral session

1 Letter

1 Event

Activity timeline 3 events

20 Apr
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Access to Work Collective to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee relating to the Access to Work scheme, 8 April 2026

12 Mar
2026

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

12 Mar
2026

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

12 Mar 2026

View on parliament.uk

Bill Thorpe · Department for Work and Pensions Helga Swidenbank · Department for Work and Pensions Neil Couling CB CBE · DWP Services and Fraud Sir Peter Schofield KCB · Department for Work and Pensions

Correspondence 1 letter

20 Apr 2026 To committee Letter from the Access to Work Collective to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee relating to the Access to Work scheme, 8 April 2026

Parliament page