MP for Newton Abbot Martin Wrigley is backing calls to the Government to urgently reform what he calls the ‘failing’ Access to Work programme to ensure that no disabled person, whether employed or self-employed is forced out of work because of preventable barriers in the system.

Access to work is a lifeline for thousands of disabled people which enables them to stay in work, providing practical support including communication assistance, support workers, transport, and specialist equipment. On paper it is an essential service that perfectly aligns with the Government’s vision that if a disabled person can work, they should be able to have that opportunity.

But Mr Wrigley says in his constituency there are clear examples of the system ‘failing’.

He said: ‘We have seen the impact of these failings, with the closure of the No Limits café earlier this year, and Dawlish Garden’s Trust having to withdraw from the Access to Work scheme completely as they were no longer getting the support for their work experience placements that they had received previously.

‘All of this is at odds with the Government’s claims that they wish to support disabled people into work.

When the Labour Government was elected it claimed it inherited a failing system and went on to consult of how improvements could be made.

It said it was reviewing all aspects of the scheme and develop future policy with disabled people and the organisations that represent them.

Mr Wrigley says those improvements are ‘yet to be seen’ and that it appears that the scheme is continually failing applicants with widespread breakdowns.

He claims since early 2024 there have been reports that Access to Work Case managers have been ‘making cuts and inconsistent decisions that appear to prioritise savings over support’.

Further changes propose the removal of several key types of support including Job Aide roles, assistive technology and specialist equipment with only minimal job coaching and British Sign Language interpretation remaining.

Mr Wrigley said: ‘If these changes come to pass, Access to Work would be stripped of its ability to meet the needs of the vast majority of disabled workers. Add to this the forthcoming reform to PIP (Personal Independent Payments) and it appears that the current Government are once again failing the most vulnerable.

‘It is our moral duty to ensure that the most vulnerable people in society are offered the same opportunities as everyone else, and currently the systems and schemes in place that are designed to do just that aren’t working.

‘I am baffled why the Government are saying that their aim is to support disabled people into work, whilst at the same time proposing and enacting brutal cuts to the very scheme that does that.

‘I have written to the Minister about this subject on a number of occasions, and submitted written questions to the House, and I will continue to raise this issue on behalf of my constituents, and also for disabled people across the country.’

He has added his name to an open letter to the Government submitted by the Access to Work Collective, a group formed to highlight the difficulties disabled people face when accessing employment, and also the issues they face trying to access appropriate support to enable them to do so.