Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Marsha De Cordova (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 April 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 April 2025. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 April 2025 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Access to Work Programme: Cost Benefit Analysis

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the RNIB on its report entitled Access to Work - Cost benefit analysis, published on 5 September 2015, in the context of her Department's consultation on its Green Paper on Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, published on 26 March 2025.

Answer

Since 2015, the style, scope and cost of support that disabled people require has changed significantly, as has the labour market, yet Access to Work has stayed broadly the same. We believe there is a strong case for looking at the future role and purpose of Access to Work, given the significant operational challenges it faces, its limited reach (it only supports around 1% of the working disabled population) and rising costs. We want to improve accessibility and support more disabled people into work and think Access to Work has a significant role in this.

In March 2025, the Pathways to Work Green paper launched a consultation on the future of Access to Work, and we are keen to hear the views and voices of disabled people and representative organisations, such as RNIB. We will consider all evidence during the review of Access to Work.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
43111
Session
2024-26
Related items
Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Command papers
House of Commons
House of Lords
Subjects
Cost benefit analysis Access to work programme Pathways to work
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk