Limited Access to Work: How the Access to Work scheme could better fulfill its potential

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The government is taking some positive steps to help disabled people into work, but it’s not making full use of the key tools available to it. Access to Work could play a central role in achieving this goal, yet it’s currently falling short of its potential. As a result, it’s holding back both disabled people and the government’s wider ambitions on employment.

Access to Work is a government scheme that directly addresses some of the barriers disabled people face to work. At its best, Access to Work can ensure that workers are able to start and stay in work, while also giving employers the confidence and support to hire and retain disabled people. As the government looks to support more disabled people into work, the Access to Work scheme should play a pivotal role in their plans. 

However, the scheme is underperforming at present.

Our frontline advisers have highlighted 3 key areas where Access to Work needs to work better, based on their experiences of helping disabled people who are struggling to start work. Firstly, there’s a lack of awareness about the scheme and how it can help disabled people to work. Work coaches aren’t always telling disabled jobseekers about the scheme, even when it could help them. 

Secondly, there are unacceptable delays in the processing of applications to the scheme. People currently wait 5 months on average for their application to be processed, though the delays can be as long as one year. This application backlog is putting disabled people’s jobs at risk and undermining employers’ confidence in hiring disabled people.

Thirdly, the system of delivering funding via reimbursement is causing significant strain on both workers and employers. The process for applying for reimbursements is stressful and time consuming, there can be significant delays to getting funds reimbursed, and the amount paid back is often less than the real costs. 

While not an exhaustive list of issues, tackling these 3 areas is crucial for ensuring that the Access to Work scheme can have maximum impact. That’s why we’re calling on the government to:

• Improve awareness of the scheme within jobcentres: by improving work coach training, including Access to Work as a key topic within the new ‘Support Conversation’ and advertising the scheme through posters and leaflets.

• Reduce waiting times for support: by recruiting and training more staff to bring down the backlog and ensure people get the support they need more quickly.

• Review and streamline the reimbursement process: by improving the Access to Work online portal, aligning reimbursement rates with real costs and reviewing the possibility of offering upfront loans, as well as removing the need for employer signs off, where possible.

The government is clearly aware that the Access to Work scheme needs reform. They consulted on the scheme as part of the Pathways to Work consultation and hosted a Collaboration Committee to review the scheme. However, the consultation documents imply that they are looking at cutting back the support on offer, rather than maximising the scheme’s potential.

Cutting Access to Work would be a mistake. Any reforms to Access to Work must be built on the needs and experiences of disabled people, rather than short-term cost savings. Done well, the scheme could be a key part of the government’s drive to support disabled people to start and stay in work.