Scheme that provided extra Access to Work support had ‘positive’ impact, DWP research reveals

A government scheme that focused extra workplace funding on disabled people with higher support needs had a positive impact on both employees and employers, according to new research released just as ministers are seeking cuts to a wider programme.

The scheme, trialled for two years under the last government, was an extension of the Access to Work scheme, which is currently facing growing concerns over apparent cuts to disabled people’s support.

The idea behind Access to Work Plus (AtW+) was to provide extra support in the workplace for disabled people with “significant in-work needs”, and for their employers – at up to £3,000 a year – to compensate them for adjusting job roles to support those disabled members of staff.

The last government piloted the idea between May 2022 and March 2024, with about 300 employers and disabled employees involved, some of whom still receive this extra support.

Adjustments funded under the scheme included items such as furniture, software, and noise-cancelling headphones, and job coaches for the disabled staff member.

Although there were some criticisms of how the scheme worked in practice – including with delays and “significant practical challenges” – many disabled employees said that one of the most important aspects of their AtW+ award was how it “helped them to work more effectively and gave them greater independence”.

The “advocacy provided by job coaches was especially important to some employees to help them navigate workplaces”, the research* found.

Employers “generally reported positive experiences with AtW+ and believed the scheme had significant potential in helping disabled people gain and stay in employment”, the report found.

And it said employers felt the AtW+ funding “gave them the support financially and logistically to hire people”.

The report concluded that the support was “experienced positively” and “was generally well-received among both employers and employees”, particularly the funding for support workers, job coaches, and equipment.

It added: “Overall, employers and employees felt AtW+ support had a positive impact on employees’ wellbeing, their development of workplace and social skills, and their confidence.

“They felt the scheme supported employees to work who otherwise might not have been able to, and AtW+ had increased their confidence in employing those who needed additional support to work.”

The report is one of 12 detailed research reports, nearly all related to disability employment, disability poverty and the benefits system, that were quietly released by the government on 17 July, eight days after MPs voted to impose £2 billion-a-year cuts to disability benefits (see separate story).

But it also follows months of growing concerns among disabled people over DWP’s apparent cuts to AtW support.

They fear DWP has already begun to implement significant cuts to AtW support, even though ministers insist they are still consulting on the future of the disability employment programme following their Pathways to Work green paper, which suggested that they wanted to cut future spending on the scheme, which is set to increase from £142 million in 2019-20 to £385 million this year.

Disability News Service reported in May how leaked information from multiple sources suggested DWP was planning two waves of cost-cutting that would make it significantly harder for disabled people to secure support through AtW.

Even before those leaks, the AtW scheme was already under huge pressure, with lengthy delays for new claimants and renewals, and frequent complaints about funding decisions made by case managers.

The findings of the AtW+ research suggest instead that DWP should increase investment in AtW, particularly for disabled people with higher support needs.

*Evaluation of Access to Work Plus: qualitative research with employees, employers and DWP staff involved in the Access to Work Plus proof of concept

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