{"id":308745,"date":"2025-10-16T18:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/308745\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T18:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:49:13","slug":"government-figures-show-first-signs-of-perverse-cuts-to-access-to-work-disability-news-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/308745\/","title":{"rendered":"Government figures show first signs of \u2018perverse\u2019 cuts to Access to Work \u2013 Disability News Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Official government figures have shown the first signs that ministers have been engaged in a \u201cperverse\u201d programme to secretly restrict grants made by the Access to Work disability employment scheme.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figures<\/a> show that the number of people who had any Access to Work (AtW) provision approved fell by more than 10 per cent in the year to March 2025.<\/p>\n

The figures show that the number of disabled people who had AtW requests for aids and equipment approved plunged by 16 per cent on the previous year, while approvals for support for travel to work fell by 14 per cent.<\/p>\n

And, at a time when ministers<\/a> and opposition politicians<\/a> are repeatedly suggesting that not enough people with mental distress or ill-health are in work, the number of approvals for mental health support from the government scheme dropped by seven per cent.<\/p>\n

One disabled campaigner who works with AtW claimants said figures from the last six months \u2013 not due to be published for another 12 months \u2013 will eventually show how the cuts to essential funding are \u201cfar more severe\u201d than those shown in the new publication.<\/p>\n

Only last week<\/a>, evidence from the disabled people\u2019s organisation\u00a0Action on Disability (AoD)<\/a> showed the average AtW support hours of disabled people it has been working with had plunged from 22.5 to just four in the last two-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n

The previous week<\/a>, Sir Stephen Timms (pictured), the social security and disability minister, admitted signing off on orders that have led to widespread cuts to AtW support packages since Labour came to power.<\/p>\n

The number of disabled people receiving AtW continued to rise last year, from 67,240 in 2023-24 to 74,190 in 2024-25, but this appears to be because AtW grants are typically awarded over three years.<\/p>\n

For the same reason, total AtW spending rose to \u00a3320.7 million, an increase of 17 per cent in real terms compared to 2023-24.<\/p>\n

The group that received the largest proportion of AtW spending was claimants who were \u201cDeaf or hard of hearing\u201d, with 28 per cent, or \u00a390.3 million; followed by those with a \u201cmental health condition\u201d, at 12 per cent of spending, or \u00a338.3 million; people with \u201cdifficulty in seeing\u201d at 12 per cent, or \u00a338.2 million; and those with \u201clearning disability\u201d at 11 per cent of total spending.<\/p>\n

DWP refused to say if the latest figures showed that the months of concerns over cuts to support were well-placed and whether the department was making it harder to claim AtW just at a time when ministers were trying to get more disabled people into work.<\/p>\n

But it did confirm that Access to Work awards are approved for up to three years, so customers receiving payments in 2024-25 may have been approved for support at any point between 2021-22 and 2024-25.<\/p>\n

This means there is likely to be a time lag between any cut in the number of awards approved and that showing up in DWP figures.<\/p>\n

Disability consultant Alice Hastie<\/a>, who specialises in providing AtW advice, said it was no surprise that the impact of the cuts was beginning to show up in the DWP statistics, although she said the \u201ctrue extent of the reductions is being masked\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told DNS: \u201cCurrent figures still include payments to existing claimants on three-year awards, and they don\u2019t yet reflect the escalation in cuts that began after May this year; the published data only runs to April.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I, and many other supporting organisations, are seeing on the ground is far more severe: widespread and deep cuts to essential Access to Work funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery week, I speak to distressed claimants who have had long-standing support suddenly reduced or new applications refused altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne recent example involves a blind claimant who had their funded taxi travel removed after being told they could use public transport instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple case managers ignored the fact that this person requires staff support to reach, board, and disembark from trains \u2013 support that isn\u2019t available late at night when their shift ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, they\u2019ve been forced to pay \u00a360 per journey out of their own pocket for over a year, while their case remains unresolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cShockingly, a case manager even asked them whether they held a driving licence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to Work is supposed to remove barriers for disabled people, not create new ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing instead is a system that\u2019s being quietly dismantled \u2013 with devastating consequences for disabled workers and their ability to remain in employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Buxton, AoD\u2019s chief executive, said: \u201cThe new figures confirm what many Deaf and disabled people and employers have been saying for months: Access to Work is being quietly squeezed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFewer people are getting new support approved, and that\u2019s having a real and damaging impact on people\u2019s ability to start or keep their jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to Work should be opening doors, not quietly closing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caroline Collier, from Inclusion Barnet\u2019s\u00a0Campaign for Disability Justice<\/a>,\u00a0said: \u201cAccess to Work is a vital support that unlocks opportunities for disabled people.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that there is ever-increasing pressure to find work, it seems perverse to be rationing this support when it plays a key role in so many disabled people\u2019s working lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on government to make adequate investment in this crucial scheme, speed up assessment times and embrace Access to Work as a real and effective enabler for disabled people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Sir Stephen\u2019s admission that he signed off on an order for AtW staff to apply guidance more \u201cscrupulously\u201d, the department claimed again yesterday (Wednesday) that no changes had been made to Access to Work policy.<\/p>\n

A DWP spokesperson said in a statement: \u201cSpending on Access to Work has risen year on year and is supporting thousands of sick or disabled people to start or stay in work, but the scheme we inherited is failing employees and employers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re working with disabled people and their organisations to improve the scheme \u2013 ensuring people have the support, skills, and opportunities to move into good, secure jobs as part of our Plan for Change<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A note from the editor:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Official government figures have shown the first signs that ministers have been engaged in a \u201cperverse\u201d programme to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":308746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,420,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-308745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-jobs","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115385346657485717","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}