Evaluation of Access to Work - Ministerial Government Departments

This report presents the findings from qualitative research to evaluate Access to Work (AtW) a programme designed for people with long-term health conditions who need extra practical support to take up work or to do their job.

The report explores the effects of the decision that Ministerial Government Departments (MGD) should pay for their AtW adjustments. Its key findings are:

• Most staff reported receiving notification from DWP about the transfer.
• There were no reports of anyone who had received AtW support prior to the changes losing that support, although at times this support was self-funded while MGDs adapted their funding systems.
• MGDs continued to offer the same types of in-work support as AtW, and many offer additional support to disabled staff.
• The transfer of funding responsibility for administering and funding in-work support to MGDs was perceived by many of the key actors involved to have been managed poorly.
• All stakeholders expressed concerns over funding from MGD budgets in the current operating climate.

This evaluation has two other elements:

• An overall evaluation of Access to Work (the core evaluation).
• An exploration of the inclusion of AtW within Individual Budget pilot areas.