DWP reveals latest excuse for refusing to tell the truth about cuts to Access to Work

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has found another excuse for not releasing vital information that would show why cuts were made to many disabled people’s Access to Work packages after Labour came to power in July 2024.

Disability News Service (DNS) has been trying for nearly a year to obtain the memo sent to Access to Work (AtW) managers that led to the proportion of applications rejected rising by more than 12 per cent in 2024-25, and increasing by another 22 per cent in April to October 2025-26.

DNS revealed earlier this month that ministers had secretly imposed a “stealth” real-terms cut to the maximum amount that disabled people can receive through AtW.

But this cut only explains a small proportion of the reductions in disabled people’s packages.

Ministers have repeatedly claimed that other cuts were due to AtW case managers “applying the guidance with greater consistency”.

And Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, told DNS last September that he would have approved a submission that explained that this would be taking place.

DNS has been using the Freedom of Information Act for the last eight months to try to obtain the date on which Sir Stephen was informed about these cuts, and for confirmation of the action the department took and how it was phrased.

DWP has previously confirmed that “case manager learning was improved, to equip them with the necessary skills and expertise to apply the Access to Work policy and guidance fairly and consistently”.

But it has failed to say when this began and exactly how it was announced to AtW staff.

It has also previously confirmed that ministers “were made aware of these activities in the course of verbal updates”.

But DWP is now claiming that because the move “to strengthen case manager learning” was “not a policy decision”, such an action “would not therefore routinely require Ministerial approval and would not be recorded”.

This means the department is claiming there is no record of when Sir Stephen was alerted to the decision to clamp down on AtW spending through a “verbal update”.

It has also failed again to send a copy of any notification that was sent to AtW case managers, informing them about this new training.

Meanwhile, ministers have announced the recruitment of nearly 500 extra AtW staff, to clear the backlog they “inherited” from the last Conservative government over the next 16 months.

The move follows months of campaigning from disabled recipients of AtW support, who have drawn attention to delays and cuts to the scheme.

DWP said this week that AtW demand had “surged” in recent years, with the number of claims more than doubling since 2018-19.

This has led to a backlog of about 60,000 applicants waiting for a decision.

The recruitment drive will see 480 new case managers and caseworkers employed from outside DWP to help fix the backlog by September next year, a 72 per cent increase on the 658 people currently working on the scheme.

DWP said that AtW staff numbers have already increased by around 30 per cent since March 2024, payment delays have been eliminated, and 96 per cent of urgent-start-date applications are now decided within 28 days.

Wider reforms to the scheme are being considered and are expected to be announced later this year.

Caroline Collier, chief executive of Inclusion Barnet’s Campaign for Disability Justice, said: “We cautiously welcome DWP’s announcement that Access to Work will recruit more staff, but this train is late leaving the station.

“Access to Work needs to be quick and effective, so that every disabled person who can work has the freedom to pursue their career.

“But thousands of disabled people are enduring delays of 18 months or more, whilst the government decides what essential accessibility tools they can have.

“The DWP’s own reports confess that this has caused people to lose their jobs.

“Access to Work helps many disabled people to work – there are disabled barristers and baristas, teachers, and campaigners.

“Growing Access to Work is essential to continuing that.”