National Audit Office: Processing delays and backlogs in Access to Work affect job security and employer finances

• Applications to the Access to Work scheme more than doubled between 2018‑19 and 2024‑25 (from 76,100 to 157,000) – believed to be driven by increased identification of mental health conditions and neurodiversity
• Despite the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) doubling the number of staff working on the scheme, the increased take-up has led to significant processing delays and backlogs – in 2024-25 it took DWP on average 66 days to process applications, reaching 109 days in November 2025
• DWP's spending on Access to Work in 2024-25 was almost twice as much as 2018‑19 (from £163m to £321m), with a 125% rise in spending on support workers
• As the government looks to improve the scheme, the National Audit Office (NAO) recommends DWP should close data gaps and build evaluation into future changes so the scheme's impact, effectiveness and value for money can be properly assessed  

Delays and backlogs in processing Access to Work applications have more than doubled over the past four years. The average time taken by DWP to process applications increased from 28 days in 2020-21 to 66 days in 2024-25, affecting people's job security and employers' cashflow, says the NAO. 

The number of applications waiting for DWP to make a decision almost trebled, from 21,700 in March 2022 to 62,100 in March 2025; and the number of outstanding requests for payment more than quadrupled, from 6,900 at 31,700 over the same period. 

The latest report from the independent public spending watchdog – The Access to Work scheme – investigates DWP's operation of the scheme1 to help inform public debate on its future. 

Access to Work clearly has benefits in helping people get, or stay in, work if they have a physical or mental health condition or disability, and demand for the scheme has soared. However, despite the number of DWP staff working on the scheme doubling, processing delays and backlogs have created difficulties for individuals and employers, including reduced job security, and cashflow pressures for businesses - particularly small businesses. 

Complaints to DWP about Access to Work rose from 234 in 2022–23 to 657 in 2024–25, with 800 in the first six months of 2025–26, most relating to delays in processing applications. 

As demand has increased, so has spending. DWP's spending on Access to Work nearly doubled in real terms between 2018–19 and 2024–25, rising from £163 million to £321 million. This increase was largely driven by a 125% increase in spending on support workers2, such as British Sign Language interpreters and job aides who help people carry out their work. Total spending is forecast to reach £517 million by 2029–30. 

The scheme is demand‑led and DWP exceeded its budget in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2022-23, by an average of £3.6 million. The department has to cover any overspend from its wider departmental budget. 

DWP data suggest a shift from supporting mainly individuals with physical conditions to those with mental health or learning conditions. The total number of people who received payments from the scheme increased by 97% from 37,700 in 2018-19 to 74,200 in 2024-25 – with just over half (51%) having mental health or learning conditions in 2024‑25. 

To try to manage the increased take-up of the scheme, the department has increased staffing (247 full-time equivalents in 2021-22 to 588 in 2024-25) and made productivity improvements, but the report finds that systems remain inefficient, and the backlog is not expected to fall significantly without policy change, additional budget or productivity improvements. 

The NAO has several recommendations to support DWP in how it can strengthen how it administers the current scheme, while also planning for improvements that can be implemented in the future, these include: 

• Address gaps in administrative and survey data and implement any scheme changes in a way that allows evaluation of effectiveness and value for money.
• Update guidance so it aligns more closely with the scheme's objectives and supports caseworkers to make consistent decisions.
• Improve the quality of data collected on case progress and use analytical techniques (such as process mining) to identify and resolve bottlenecks in the customer journey.
• Complete the work study to set a new productivity standard and develop an action plan - including innovative approaches - to help case managers meet it. 

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: 

“The Access to Work scheme plays a valuable role in helping people with disabilities or long-term health conditions secure and sustain employment, and demand for the scheme has grown significantly. Maximising the value for money of the scheme will require government to improve how it administers the current system, to get on top of the backlogs and to properly assess the scheme's impact.” 

ENDS 

Notes to editors

1. The Access to Work scheme is intended to provide support for people's needs within the workplace over and above an employer's legal duty to make reasonable adjustments. Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs.
2. DWP's spending on support workers increased by 125% in real terms from £101 million in 2018-19 to £227 million in 2024-25. The largest increase in spending was for 'job aides', which rose, in real terms, from £6 million in 2020-21 to £64 million in 2024-25. Job aides work alongside the customer at work and may carry out parts of the role that the customer cannot do due to their disability or health condition. In 2024-25, spending on support for people who are deaf or hard of hearing was £90 million and accounted for 28% of total spending on Access to Work provision.