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Written question asked by Christopher Chope (Conservative) on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 June 2026. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Friday, 12 June 2026 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Access to Work Programme: Self-employed

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason applications for Access to Work from self-employed customers are not being allocated for processing until over 18 months from the date of receipt; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays on disabled applicants.

Answer

Delays in allocating Access to Work applications for self‑employed customers are due to high demand and the additional complexity of these cases, which often require further evidence such as tax and income details.

The Department recognises the impact of these delays, particularly for disabled applicants without employer support. To address this, steps have been taken to recruit additional staff to clear the backlog and improve processing times: Huge recruitment boost to tackle backlog in vital disability work scheme - GOV.UK.

Priority is given to customers starting work within four weeks and to those renewing awards, to minimise disruption to employment.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
6322
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Disability Applications Standards Self-employed Access to work programme
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk