DWP pilots Access to Work personal budgets

On Monday the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, announced a pilot of personal budgets for the Access to Work scheme.

In a statement to Parliament he said: “We are trialling a new feature of the access to work scheme. From today we shall be testing the use of personal budgets, which will allow disabled people who have received grants to decide exactly how and when the money can best be used to support their individual needs. That gives them more choice and more control over the support they receive to help them to start work, to stay in work, or even to start a business.”

The announcement follows a statement made by the Minister for Disabled People in March 2015, which was the result of negotiations about the scheme with our Access to Work special interest group.