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Access to Work delays leave disabled workers facing job and health risks, PAC warns

The committee found that significant failings in the DWP' administration of the scheme had a clear human cost for those it was meant to support. 

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Access to Work delays are causing hardship and uncertainty for disabled workers, according to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

The committee found that significant failings in the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) administration of the scheme had a clear human cost for those it was meant to support. 

People relying on Access to Work valued the support but said that delays in processing applications were causing problems with employment, income, health and wellbeing.

The DWP had a target of 25 working days to process applications, but was telling applicants it could take up to 37 weeks. 

The backlog stood at around 66,000 cases in March 2026, up from 21,700 in March 2022, and the department expected it would take at least 18 months to clear. 

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The Government announced plans to recruit extra staff to clear the backlog by September 2027.

Evidence submitted to the committee described hardship caused by the delays. 

Workers said they faced a choice between risking their jobs or risking their health by working without adjustments. 

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Employers were also hiring fewer disabled people.

Additionally, the committee found other failings in the scheme’s administration, including poor communication from the DWP. 

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People reported unanswered emails, unreturned calls, unclear letters, inconsistent advice and being passed between staff without clear ownership. 

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The scheme’s process was also found to be inaccessible, requiring administrative capacity that some disabled people were applying for support to access. 

People reported complex forms, long email chains, repeated evidence requests and unclear deadlines. 

Written evidence described the system as feeling arbitrary and unreliable, with support sometimes reduced or removed without warning or clear rationale. 

The committee called for case managers to receive more support to help them make consistent decisions.

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It was also found that in some cases, taxpayers were paying for workplace adjustments that employers should have provided themselves. 

Clive Betts MP, Deputy Chair of the PAC, said: “It is hard to overstate what value a well-run Access to Work could ideally provide. 

“Many people made clear to our inquiry how highly they value the support that they receive through the scheme.

“But too often getting that support is taking far too long, and at worst the delays and mismanagement in Access to Work by the DWP seem to be having the reverse impact the scheme is designed to address – actively causing employers to hire fewer disabled people, and causing distress and frustration for those attempting to access the scheme to provide them with the proper support they need.”

Betts added: “This is a government which has clearly articulated its desire to support people into work. 

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“But these goals will not be achieved if one of the primary schemes aimed at doing so is actively alienating people to the point of being as inaccessible as the employee’s original un-adjusted work, while making it harder for employers.

“It was welcome following our evidence session to see the government attempting to address these issues by increasing staff numbers, but without following the recommendations in our report, including supporting those staff properly to make consistent decisions, the delivery of this incredibly important scheme will continue to fail those who require it most.”

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