{"id":128108,"date":"2026-11-02T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=128108"},"modified":"2026-11-02T12:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T12:55:54","slug":"access-to-work-claimants-face-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/access-to-work-claimants-face-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of Access to Work Claimants Face Changes as DWP Announces New Hiring Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed new measures to reduce delays in its Access to Work scheme, including additional staff and priority processing for people about to start a job. The government aims to clear the application backlog by September 2027, following widespread delays affecting thousands of claimants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DWP Responds to Questions Over Access to Work Delays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The announcement came in a parliamentary response from Sir Stephen Timms<\/strong>, who outlined the government’s efforts to address outstanding applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Birmingham Live<\/a><\/em>, Labour MP Helen Hayes<\/strong>, representing Dulwich and West Norwood, raised concerns about how long applicants were waiting for decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Hayes asked Mr Timms: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“What estimate he has made of the waiting time for applications to the Access to Work scheme to be responded to?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Timms acknowledged the scale of the problem facing the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“This Government inherited a substantial backlog of around 57,000 Access to Work cases awaiting a decision beyond the expected timescales.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: “In our manifesto, we committed to clearing this backlog and we have made significant progress towards that commitment.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The scheme provides support to help disabled people and those with health conditions enter or remain in employment. Delayed decisions can leave applicants uncertain about when workplace assistance will become available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Measures Target Delays for Access to Work Claimants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The DWP <\/a>has focused on increasing staffing levels and prioritizing applications from people starting work within four weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timms explained: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“We have increased the number of staff working on Access to Work by around 30% (from 500 in March 2024 to 657 in March 2026) and continued to prioritise applications where a customer is due to start work within four weeks.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He reported improvements for applicants approaching their employment start dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“As a result, we have eliminated delays in making payments and cleared around 96% of cases where a customer was due to start work within four weeks in 28 days.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The figures indicate progress among applicants whose employment is imminent, although the response did not provide a current average waiting time across all applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jobcentre
Credit: Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of Additional Staff to Help Clear the Backlog<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The department is also expanding its workforce to handle the volume of outstanding cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Building on this progress, earlier this year we announced a clear plan of action to clear the backlog in applications by September 2027,” Timms said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He confirmed that recruitment had already begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As part of that plan, in September we have started recruiting an additional 480 case staff to process the higher volume of applications.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The additional recruitment represents a substantial expansion beyond the staffing increases already recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When recruitment is complete, we will have more than twice as many staff working on Access to Work as there were in March 2024,” Timms stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Caseworkers Begin Training Ahead of Backlog Deadline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The DWP’s recruitment plan also includes training new employees before they take responsibility for processing applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timms described the preparations underway for the incoming workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The first cohorts of new case managers and case workers have begun comprehensive training and will shortly enter a supported consolidation period, helping to build the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to deliver high-quality decision making.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department’s stated target remains September 2027, with 480 additional case staff being recruited to help process the outstanding applications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The DWP has confirmed significant changes to its Access to Work scheme as thousands of claimants continue to face delays. New measures aim to tackle the growing pressure on applications and improve access to support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":124841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128109,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128108\/revisions\/128109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}