Access to Work, a crucial government scheme that provides financial support for disabled individuals, faces significant delays that are impacting businesses and employees across the United Kingdom. Entrepreneurs such as Josh Wintersgill rely on this program in order to offset the costs of operating their businesses. They’re getting caught in a bind here as obtaining new dollars has become much more difficult. These long delays have business owners and employees all across the country worried about the future, underscoring the urgent need for reform.
Six years into his new business, Wintersgill has built a successful enterprise around developing products that make it easier for wheelchair users to travel. Access to Work helped him start his journey into entrepreneurship. The support enabled him to launch and grow his business. Since July, he’s received no funding because he is in the middle of an appeal process over the status of his grant.
“They’re basically with me all the time. They help me in every facet of helping me do my job and without them, I can’t do any of that.” – Josh Wintersgill
Lexie O’Connor faced a heavy burden reapplying for Access to Work. Unfortunately, it took her ten months to finally arrive at resolution. When she eventually did get a decision, the hours allotted for one-on-one support were slashed to nearly a third of the original request. Out of concern for her job security, O’Connor recently accepted a buyout. She’s not alone among her colleagues, who are scared of losing their jobs over issues with Access to Work.
“A lot of employers in that time physically would not be able to manage keeping people like myself employed.” – Lexie O’Connor
The Sea Change café currently hires O’Connor and 25 other neurodiverse adults. They all rely on Access to Work for the help that makes it possible for them to succeed. Diana Salmon, head of the café’s occupational health and safety team. Path to award difficulty She’s focused on the fact that one of the biggest hurdles is long wait times for processing awards. Without more timely funding support, the café is challenged to be the inclusive community hub it aspires to be.
“We want to provide an inclusive environment, but without timely Access to Work funding for colleagues with complex disabilities, they are potentially being excluded.” – Diana Salmon
The recent state of the Access to Work scheme is shocking. As of 14 February 2025, there were 62,000 applications waiting to be processed on the Disability Confident – which Access to Work is part of – scheme. Further, there are 33,000 people waiting in line for Access to Work payments. This backlog just adds more compounded difficulties that disabled workers and their employers already have to deal with.
With so much money potentially at stake, any delays in funding could deter would-be applicants from applying for assistance, Salmon points out. This makes it harder for companies like Sea Change to do the right thing and create work environments best suited for accommodating disabled employees.
“It [the delays] could put people off applying to us… so we do our best but we can’t afford really to pick up the high support costs.” – Diana Salmon
Angela Matthews, the director of public policy and research at UK’s markets and consumer watch-dog, Business Disability Forum (BDF) has spoken out against these matters. She is calling on the government to increase the efficiency and resourcing of Access to Work. Matthews further contends that without these improvements, businesses will increasingly find it difficult to attract and retain employees with disabilities.
“It would be much more difficult for us to attract, recruit and to retain employees with disabilities without the scheme.” – Angela Matthews
Access to Work has massively scaled up its financial support for the scheme. In 2023-24, expenditure skyrocketed by 41% to £257.8 million. As demand continues to outpace processing time, concerns about the sustainability of this system continue to grow.
Disabled entrepreneurs and their employees are feeling the sting of funding lag. This has led to growing alarm about the long-term prospects for building inclusive UK workplaces. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledges the shortcomings of the Access to Work scheme, stating they inherited a system that is failing both employees and employers.
“I’m not getting everything done that I used to get done… there’s so much to do that it’s just so hard to stay on top of it… it’s just really frustrating.” – Josh Wintersgill
As disabled entrepreneurs and their employees grapple with the repercussions of delayed funding, there is widespread concern about the future of inclusive workplaces in the UK. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledges the shortcomings of the Access to Work scheme, stating they inherited a system that is failing both employees and employers.
“We inherited an Access to Work scheme that is failing both employees and employers, which is why – as part of our welfare reform – we consulted on how it could be improved.” – DWP
