The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it has made improvements to how disabled people can access support online.
People will be able to claim for Access to Work grants digitally from April, it said. The grants are intended to help people with disabilities, or physical and mental health conditions who need help to get into or stay in work.
Currently, some of the system is digitalised, while other areas are paper based.
In response to a written parliamentary question from Labour MP Stephen Timms, work and pensions minister Mims Davies said her department “anticipate by April 2024 that a fully digital service will be available, with applicants able to claim for all types of grants”.
Paper-based application process “too complicated”
In The Independent, Ryan Kennedy, adjustments and accessibility lead at disability equality charity Scope, said the current system of applying for grants is “dogged with delays”.
He said: “Disabled people are waiting a long time for assessments and for their applications to be awarded, which results in delays in them ordering equipment.
“The Government also needs to address low awareness of the scheme by employers and disabled people.”
Meanwhile, Jackie O’Sullivan, acting CEO of Mencap, welcomed the commitment from ministers, adding that the current system had been “an administrative burden on employers and disabled people.
“No person with a learning disability should risk falling out of employment or a training programme because their support cannot be put in place in time or because the paper-based application process is too complicated.”
Processing times may decrease
Sir Stephen Timms is Labour chairman of the Commons’ Work and Pensions Committee. Ministers told his committee in 2021 they were “spending £5 million on Access to Work to commence delivery of a fully digital customer service”.
He also questioned what impact introducing an online system for determining Access to Work applications had had on waiting times for decisions.
Davies said her department was still gathering data, but added it was “envisioned that processing times may decrease”.
In November 2023, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said DWP wasn’t doing enough to inform the public of changes it has made to digitise disability benefit payments.
A survey by Unison in 2020 found only five percent of disabled workers had help from Access to Work to work from home, while 41 percent did not know about the scheme, and 23 percent did not think Access to Work could help with working from home.
