The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been forced to admit that the number of Access to Work rejections has seen a dramatic increase since Labour took control. The figures show that denials of the vital support are up by more than a fifth this year, with one in three claims rejected.
Access to Work is, in theory, supposed to provide financial support to disabled people to help them get into and stay in work. The fund can be used towards specialist equipment, transport, and support workers. However, as the Canary has reported, the programme has, for a long time, been failing disabled people, and the department is quietly cutting it without any consultation and little transparency.
Of course, this means disabled people are struggling to get into work because of their accommodations can’t be met. But in cases such as Tourettes Hero founder Jess Thom, disabled people who have thrived under Access to Work are now having to give up their careers as the DWP is going back on their word and cutting their support.
This, of course, comes at a time when the DWP is obsessed with “Getting Britain Working Again” – whilst doing nothing to actually support disabled people into work.
DWP forced to own up
In a written question, former shadow minister for disabled people Vicky Foxcroft asked the now minister for disabled people, Stephen Timms:
whether his Department holds data on the (a) number and (b) proportion of Access to Work applications that have closed in each financial year from 2022-2023 to 2025-26 to date by (i) stage of the claim and (ii) reason for closure.
Timms’ answer showed just how terrible the Labour government is for disabled people – much worse than the Tories, in fact. Timms also tried to dodge the question on a semantic technicality
The Department for Work and Pensions does not close Access to Work applications. Instead, applications may be approved or not approved following assessment
Huge increase in disabled people losing support this year already
However, the figures speak for themselves, the below are based on tax years, and so run from April 2022- April 2023 and so on. Timms told Foxcroft:
- 2022/23: 31,482 applications were not approved (30% of all decisions)
- 2023/24: 33,886 applications were not approved (24% of all decisions)
- 2024/25: 34,874 applications were not approved (27% of all decisions)
- 2025/26 (to October 2025): 27,297 applications were not approved (33% of all decisions)
At first glance, it appears that the figure hasn’t jumped up loads. However,, we’re only halfway through this financial year. So already this financial year, 33% of all Access to Work claims have not been approved. We’re just a few thousand off the total for 2022 with still another six months to go.
Disability News Service has this projected at a 22% increase from last year. And, it’s worth bearing in mind that denials already rose by 12% in Labour’s first year in power (however it should be noted the Tories were still in charge for the first two months). As DNS also points out, one in three claims has been rejected this year so far.
DWP blames disabled people and not its own failing system
Timms told Foxcroft that reasons for rejection included no contact from the applicant, insufficient evidence, the applicant not being eligible, and the application not being pursued. However, he didn’t provide any data that showed the frequency at which these were the reasons, or any more detailed reasons why the applicant wasn’t eligible.
These reasons massively blame the applicant, instead of the DWP, who as with most things, don’t make this an easy process. It’s also rich that contact is mentioned when the DWP is a notoriously hard organisation to get any kind of straightforward communication from. Back in October, the department had to admit that a high number of ESA claimants were left feeling suicidal after delays in phone contact.
Co-founder of the Access to Work Collective, Shani Dhanda, told DNS:
What we see on the ground is chaos: phone calls going unanswered, people cut off mid-call, evidence repeatedly misplaced, and applicants waiting so long for approvals, change of circumstances or renewals, that work opportunities disappear.
Access to Work “not fit for purpose”
Foxcroft, who quit as a Labour whip during the Labour PIP rebellion, told DNS:
It has long been clear that Access to Work is not fit for purpose. I am pleased that ministers have acknowledged this and begun to take action through the Pathways to Work green paper.
However, the DWP’s Pat McFadden told disability rights campaigners a few weeks ago that the follow-up white paper to the green paper would not be published. Crucially many of the Access to Work changes were also quietly pushed through whilst the consultation happened.
Foxcroft concluded:
These statistics show, however, that there is still a long way to go towards removing the workplace barriers disabled people face every day.
The DWP is expected to announce its proposals for Access to Work in the coming weeks. However, it’s worth noting that none of the current plans to help (read: force) disabled people into work mention any further investment in Access to Work. In fact the plans explicitly mention that the onus should fall more on the employer to foot the bill for adjustments disabled people need in the workplace.
It’s clear that while the government is only interested in appearing to care about supporting disabled people into work, when it comes to actually helping us they couldn’t give a fuck.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.