PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Access to Work Programme (16 May 2019)

I am committed to ensuring that disabled people and disabled people’s organisations are engaged with and listened to. My diary for this year is filling up with meetings with disabled people and stakeholders, ranging from individual Access to Work customers to larger organisations such as Action on Hearing Loss.

Access to Work has a regular stakeholder forum which brings together disabled people and disabled people’s organisations to discuss how the Access to Work offer works for our customers. This group includes representatives from organisations such as the Thomas Pocklington Trust, Versus Arthritis and the National Deaf Children’s Association. The group is due to meet next month and will discuss plans for future improvements for the Access to Work scheme.

DWP also undertakes regular engagement with stakeholders on specific issues. For example, this week officials held a stakeholder workshop on Access to Work’s Tech Fund policy, exploring strategies for encouraging the take-up of assistive technology to meet support needs. Next week, we are hosting the latest in a series of stakeholder workshops to discuss the Access to Work offer for self-employed people.