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RACHEL REEVESGDPADHDADHDADHDDWPADHDDWPADHDDWPYour browser does not support the element., Britain’s chancellor, loves “working people”. She mentioned them 13 times in her budget speech in October. But like her Conservative predecessors, Ms Reeves is rather less keen on benefit recipients. The welfare bill for those on sickness and disability is expected to increase by about half in the next five years, exceeding £100bn ($123bn), or 3% of , by 2030. Some suspect the generous terms are contributing to Britain’s high levels of economic inactivity.Against this backdrop, Access to Work, a government initiative to help people with a disability or a health condition back into work, seems like a godsend. Recipients can receive grants of up to £69,260 a year to pay for things like equipment, sign-language interpreters, coaching and counselling. Spending has jumped by 72% in the past two years, but at £258m it is still but a snip of the overall benefits budget. To supporters, it is world-leading and a rare example of something that is right with the benefits system. Instead, it may embody everything that is wrong with it.The scheme seeks to tackle a real problem: only 53% of disabled Britons are in work, compared with 82% of non-disabled. Some 2.6m more working-age people identify as disabled than did so a decade ago.For years spending on the scheme remained stable (and was mainly on support for the deaf). Yet since 2022 the number of claimants has doubled. Most of those now applying cite poor mental health, learning disabilities and neurodivergent conditions such as autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ().The trouble is that generous terms intended to empower disabled people may have left the scheme open to gimmicks. No formal diagnosis is necessary to apply, the grant is not means-tested and no assessment is needed “if a customer knows their support requirements”. One website lists fidget tools and wobble boards as “practical” equipment that can be reimbursed. On Reddit, a client talks up the “Apple watch” they were awarded for time management.Word spreads on social media. Maddy Alexander-Grout, an influencer who helps other entrepreneurs “become more visible by telling their story”, coaches 40 people with , a service paid for by Access to Work. In one YouTube video, Ms Alexander-Grout helps a friend fill in the application form for and “possible dyspraxia” (“she’s sometimes a bit clumsy…she does hurt herself a lot”).There is no reason to suggest that Ms Alexander-Grout has done anything improper. But quietly the Department for Work and Pensions () has cracked down on the budding coaching industry, reducing the hourly costs of coaching that can be reimbursed under the scheme from £450 to £205, and restricting the number of sessions. Demand is growing far faster than the scheme is able to absorb. In October the backlog for applications stood at 55,000, more than the entirety of those who received support in 2022-23. In another video on TikTok Ms Alexander-Grout complains about not being reimbursed for hiring an administration assistant, joking that the department is punishing her for the “huge waiting lists that I caused them”.Many recipients genuinely benefit from the scheme, says Leanne Maskell, who runs Works, a coaching company. But it is unclear if, overall, the spending does in fact help much: the has consistently said the scheme is too difficult to evaluate. Despite its recent expansion the number it supports remains tiny: some 68,000, or 1% of the disabled in work.The growth of Access to Work papers over wider cracks in the benefits system. Yasmine Camilla, who has dyslexia and , applied for disability benefits last year when she was struggling with her mental health. The rejected her for the standard disability allowance, worth around £400 a month, but ended up giving her £70,000 over two years through Access to Work to help her focus on being a social-media influencer. “When I was granted the money I kind of laughed inside,” she says. “I’m disabled enough to help me pay more money and pay more tax, but [not enough] just to live.”Under the Equality Act of 2010 employers must make “reasonable adjustments” to meet the needs of their disabled employees. But in reality the workplace still discriminates against disabled people, notes Kim Hoque of King’s College London, who points out that a voluntary employer scheme, Disability Confident, has failed to improve outcomes. To truly help the disabled back into work, the government should start by making workplaces more accessible: not only with wheelchair ramps, but with quiet corners and flexible working. Then Access to Work could be used for those who most need it, rather than those who discover it first.
