A flagship Government scheme designed to help disabled people stay in work is claimed to have descended into chaos — with funding cuts, year-long delays, and thousands left in limbo.
The Access to Work programme, run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is meant to provide practical support for people with physical or mental health conditions so they can do their jobs.
But disabled workers claim the system is now so dysfunctional, it is pushing people out of employment altogether.
A senior charity chief warned it was “ripping financial support away” from those who need it most.
Figures show a record 62,127 people are now stuck in the backlog, waiting for their applications to be processed — with some left waiting as long as 14 months for vital help.
The complaints come as the Government pushes ahead with sweeping reforms (Image: Getty)
The average waiting time has almost doubled in the past year, from 45 days to 85. And in a stark illustration of the crisis, a disabled broadcaster said they were forced to give up work after their entire £50,000 support package was abruptly axed.
The complaints come as the Government pushes ahead with sweeping reforms to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit — part of a drive to get more disabled people into work.
Yet campaigners say the breakdown of Access to Work undermines that very aim.
“It’s a fiasco,” said Jane Hylton-Phoenix, a self-employed study skills tutor from Uxbridge.
She told The i Paper: “People are also waiting longer than ever — it can be six months to a year to hear back on an application, which is laughable.”
The 43-year-old, who has dyslexia, ADHD and arthritis, was told in March that her Access to Work funding would be slashed. Her support has been cut from 22 to 16 hours a week — and hourly rates for assistants reduced from £35 to just £20.
“It’s horrific and panic-inducing to think how I will manage,” she said.
The cost of the Access to Work programme has ballooned to £258million a year — up from £142million in 2019-20 — yet support for individuals is being cut back sharply.
A report by Decode, an initiative run by the arts charity Disability Arts Online, found nine in ten people renewing their grants this year had seen them reduced or awarded less than requested. It put the average cut at 53%.
“It’s pretty horrific,” said Cathy Waller, co-founder of Decode. “It forces countless people to reduce their working hours or stop working altogether.”
“The Government says they want to get disabled people into work. But the main Government programme that supports that aim is seeing drastic cuts.”
Labour’s disability minister Stephen Timms admitted the scheme is buckling under “an enormous surge” in applications — and suggested businesses may need to contribute more to keep it going.
James Taylor of disability charity Scope warned the situation is pushing disabled people to quit jobs they love.
“The Government must invest more in helping disabled people into work rather than ripping financial support away,” he said.
Business leaders are also speaking out. Yateley Industries, a Hampshire-based social enterprise that employs 60 disabled people, said its survival was threatened when DWP payments stopped for six months.
By March, it was owed £186,000 — and only started receiving money again after resubmitting claims multiple times.
“It used to be a very stable, consistent scheme,” said CEO Sheldon McMullan. “But it has become very difficult and inconsistent.”
“If disabled who can work aren’t working, more people will be claiming benefits.”
The Access to Work scheme was launched by the Tories in 1994 and long dubbed the DWP’s “best kept secret”. Its use has risen sharply in recent years, from 36,000 in 2020 to 68,000 last year.
But the DWP has warned the current level of spending may not be “sustainable”, sparking fears of further cuts to come.
In a statement, the DWP said it was still “consulting” on the future of Access to Work and looking to strike a balance between supporting workers and helping employers provide adjustments.
DWP given ‘two-tier’ State Pension warning as former worker exposes Triple Lock flaw
The Triple Lock does not apply to additional pension payments (Image: Getty Images)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released the latest figures, revealing that there are currently 13 million individuals of State Pension age across Great Britain. Of this number, 34 per cent are recipients of the New State Pension, while the remaining 66 per cent receive the Basic/Old State Pension.
The Triple Lock guarantee ensures that both the New and Basic State Pensions increase annually in line with the highest of three factors: the average annual earnings growth from May to July, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate in the year to September, or 2.5 per cent.
However, a former DWP employee warns that additional elements of the State Pension, including deferred amounts, rise by the September CPI rate, creating what she describes as a ‘two-tier uprating system for pensioners.’
Sandra Wrench, who has 42 years of experience dealing with State Pensions and benefits delivered by the DWP, previously voiced her concerns to DWP Ministers in 2023. The pensions expert explained that some pensioners might not realise that this year’s Triple Lock uprating of 4.1 per cent only applies to the New and Basic State Pension payment rates.
Some 13 million people across Great Britain are receiving either the New or Basic State Pension. (Image: Getty Images)
Additional components have seen an increase of 1.7 per cent, the September CPI inflation rate, Wrench explained to the Daily Record. This is also the uprating applied to Universal Credit and other benefits delivered by the DWP.
The ex-DWP staffer explained: “The Triple Lock guarantee only covers the BASIC State Pension and not all components, the other components being Additional Pension (the scheme which existed between 1978-April 5, 2016 and which you could contract out of), Graduated Pension (1961-1975), increments for deferring your State Pension, and the protected pension which is any amount in excess of the 100% rate of the new 100 per cent State Pension which you might be entitled to at April 6, 2016.”
They elaborated on how pensions are calculated: “With the calculation of the New State Pension at April 6, 2016, in most cases, all the components of the old State Pension have been added together to give a basic State Pension, and where applicable a protected pension, which is the excess above the 100 per cent rate of the New State Pension.”
Concluding, they said: “So by adding all the components together this has brought components such as additional pension, within the scope of the Triple Lock, which was 4.1 per cent this April 2025. Under the old scheme, additional pension would have just been increased by the CPI rate of 1.7 per cent for this April 2025.
“With The Triple Lock relating to the basic rates of the State Pension only, this has created a two-tier uprating system for those who reached State Pension Age before April 2016 where the 100 per cent rate of the Old/Basic State Pension is currently £176.45 a week and those who reached retirement age after April 2016 where the 100 per cent rate of the New State Pension is higher at £230.25.”
She shared an example to help illustrate the difference:
A person who was State Pension Age before April 2016, has a weekly amount of State Pension as £240.00, consisting of 100% Old/Basic State Pension of £176.45, additional pension of £59.75 and graduated pension of £3.80.
Compare this with a person who reached State Pension Age after April 2016, who also has a weekly pension of £240.00, but this consists of 100% New State Pension of £230.25 and a protected payment of £9.75.
In April 2026, the person who reached State Pension Age before April 2016, will only have £176.45 increased by the Triple Lock, compared with a person who reached State Pension Age after April 2016, who will have a higher amount of £230.25 increased by the Triple Lock.
Mrs Wrench continued: “You can see how a person who reached State Pension Age before April 2016 has a lower percentage of their State Pension uprated by the Triple Lock compared with those who reached State Pension Age after April 2016.
“Because of this difference in basic pension and the Triple lock only relating to the basic rate of the State Pension, this will inevitably lead to those who reached State Pension Age before April 2016 falling further behind with every annual uprating.”
The insider explained that when the Triple Lock was introduced in 2011, there was only one State Pension (Old/Basic), but the introduction of the New State Pension in April 2016, calls into question whether it should also be uprated under the Triple Lock.
However, she warns that any future adjustment to the Triple Lock “will particularly affect poorer pensioners, such as those who do not have other sources of income, those who are disabled and not able to work full time, and women with caring responsibilities who have had to work part time and who may not have had the opportunity to build up any private or work pension”.
Mrs Wrench added: “The DWP have confirmed they cannot means-test the State Pension, so possibly the only way that the increased costs for State Pension can be addressed is through some adjustment to the Triple Lock, and to reassess the annual uprating of the State Pension.
Mrs Wrench shared two examples to help highlight the uprating impact:
From April 6, 2016, a woman, who is State Pension Age after April 2016. has a Basic State Pension of £63.63, and Additional Pension of £24.82. These two components were added together on April 6, 2016 to give her a starting amount of £88.45 for the New State Pension, and this £88.45 is now all Basic State Pension under the new scheme.
If you were State Pension Age before April 2016, under the old scheme the basic State Pension of £63.63 would have increased by the Triple Lock, and the additional pension of £24.82 increased by the lower CPI rate , but by adding the two together for the New State Pension from April 6, 2016, this means that all this amount is basic state Pension and increases by the Triple Lock. So those who are State Pension Age after April 2016 are at an advantage compared to those who reached retirement age before April 2016, as regards the Triple Lock increase.
A person who reached State Pension Age after April 6, 2016 has the full 100% rate of the basic State Pension which was then £119.30 (under the old scheme) and Additional Pension of £75.00.
Basic £119.30 plus AP £75.00 = £194.30 at April 6, 2016, which was converted into the 100% rate of the New State Pension of £155.65 (the 100% rate at April 6, 2016) plus a protected payment of £38.65.
Basic State Pension increases by the Triple Lock, but protected payment increases by CPI rate, so some of the additional pension has been converted into Basic State Pension and brought within the scope of The Triple Lock.
State Pension payments 2025/26
The DWP has published the full list of State Pension and benefit uprated payments on GOV.UK here, which also includes additional elements such as the deferred rates, which have risen by 1.7 per cent (September Consumer Price Index inflation rate).
Full New State Pension
- Weekly payment: £230.25
- Fortnightly payment: £460.50
- Four-weekly payment: £921
- Annual amount: £11,973
Full Basic State Pension
- Weekly payment: £176.45
- Fortnightly payment: £352.90
- Four-weekly payment: £705.80
- Annual amount: £9,175
Future State Pension increases
The Labour Government has pledged to honour the Triple Lock or the duration of its term and the latest predictions show the following projected annual increases:
- 2025/26 – 4.1%, the forecast was 4%
- 2026/27 – 2.5%
- 2027/28 – 2.5%
- 2028/29 – 2.5%
- 2029/30 – 2.5%
