When Support Fails to Support

Introduction

For many disabled individuals in the UK, self-employment is not just a career choice but a necessity—often due to inflexible or inaccessible traditional workplaces. The Access to Work (AtW) programme was designed to bridge this gap, providing financial assistance for assistive equipment, support workers, travel costs, and other related expenses. But amid bureaucratic delays, funding cuts, and structural changes, disabled entrepreneurs increasingly find themselves caught between ambition and abandonment.

1. Self-Employment: The Only Option for Many, but Wholehearted Support Is Missing

Individuals with disabilities have increasingly turned to self-employment. One report noted that among the self-employed workforce in the UK, about 611,000 are disabled—a 30% rise over five years—highlighting both the appeal and the structural pressures pushing disabled people into self-employment. ^1 Yet, while self-employment offers flexibility, it also exposes individuals to heightened vulnerability when support systems falter.^1

The Work and Pensions Committee’s evidence underscores this: “Self-employment is the only option for many people with high support needs ... However, disabled entrepreneurs appear to be disproportionately affected by inappropriate decisions and delays in assessment, at renewal and with payment.”^2 Without timely and appropriate support, the very choice that enables their independence becomes a barrier.

2. Delays and Denials: When Support Becomes Unreliable

Long waits and mismanagement of applications are common complaints. A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) revealed that average processing times for AtW applications ballooned from 55 to 85 days between July 2024 and February 2025—creating untenable delays for small businesses and sole traders. ^3

Further confirmation comes from reports that over 60,000 disabled individuals face delays exceeding nine months for critical support—some even losing job offers or being unable to maintain their enterprises. ^4 Admin failures here don’t just inconvenience—they derail livelihoods.

3. Funding Cuts and Tightening Criteria Threaten the Foundation

Amid these delays lie deeper challenges: evolving government policies that erode support for core values. Leaked internal guidance suggests that AtW is shifting costs previously covered—such as equipment like ergonomic chairs, keyboards, or software—to employers, labelling them “standard business items.” This shift disproportionately burdens small businesses and sole traders operating without employer support. ^5

Further proposed changes include:

• Hard caps on support worker hourly rates

• Stricter criteria for awarding job aide support

• Removal of flexibilities to increase support without submitting a formal “Change of Circumstance” application. ^5

Disabled advocates argue these adjustments are designed to reduce public expenditure, not aid disabled individuals into independence.

4. Real People, Real Consequences: Dan Biddle’s Case

One of the starkest examples of these systemic failures is Dan Biddle, the most severely injured survivor of the 7/7 London bombings. Having lost both legs, an eye, and his spleen—and living with complex PTSD—Dan built a business supporting other disabled individuals back into work. Until recently, his wife provided 40 hours a week of support thanks to AtW funding. Then, that support was slashed to just 13 hours—a dramatic cut that erased three-quarters of the household’s income. ^6

Dan warned that without sufficient support, he risks losing both his business and his home—and becoming entirely reliant on benefits.^6 His story is not an isolated tragedy—it’s the human face of misguided policy.

5. The Economic Price of Failure: Behind the Cost

This isn’t just an individual injustice—it’s an economic one. The Lilac Review, commissioned by the UK government, warned that disabled-led businesses face systemic barriers costing the UK economy as much as £230 billion. ^7 The report calls for reform, including trust-based disability assessments, integrated support systems, and inclusive policymaking to reverse deeply entrenched disadvantage.

Meanwhile, the Access to Work scheme remains in flux, undercut by inefficiencies and underfunding that hurt productivity, well-being, and the broader economy.

6. Broader Systemic Harm: Cuts Compound Inequality

These Access to Work struggles compound wider inequalities. The Financial Times reports that disabled employees earn about £2.35 less per hour than their non-disabled peers, creating a persistent pay gap that leaves disabled people financially insecure even when employed full-time. ^8 Reductions in benefits and inadequate support only intensify this disparity.

Similarly, letters published in The Guardian express frustration and despair from disabled self-employed individuals who find their health precariously balanced—or deteriorating—amid cuts to benefits and inadequate support structures. ^9

7. Paths Forward: What Must Change

To serve disabled entrepreneurs reliably and fairly, reform is urgently needed:

• Prioritise self-employment needs: Differentiate AtW policy and processing for self-employed claimants—who lack employer infrastructures and buffer support. ^2,5

• Clear, timely decision-making: Reverse processing delays by improving resourcing and transparency.

• Restore flexibility: Maintain mechanisms for adjusting support mid-term without total reassessment.

• Fund equipment and adaptive tools where needed: Especially for self-employed individuals who bear all costs alone.

• Centre trust in assessment: Move toward more empathetic, evidence-based assessment models, as highlighted by the Lilac Review. ^7

• Monitor policy impacts with transparency and accountability, including consultation with disability organisations and disabled entrepreneurs.

Conclusion

As disabled individuals continue driving into self-employment—often out of necessity—the Access to Work scheme must be a dependable lifeline, not a bureaucratic hurdle. But for many, it currently falls short. From long waits and chaotic renewals to punitive cuts and tightened budgets, the system too often undermines the ambition and dignity of disabled entrepreneurs.

Regulating change isn't just politically correct—it’s economically sensible, socially just, and morally imperative.

Word Count: Approx. 1,000 words (excluding footnotes and sources)

Footnotes & Sources

1. The rise in disabled self-employment (611,000 individuals)—IPSE report (2019) ^[“Disabled people choose self-employment despite being ‘let down’ by government”. IPSE, Oct 2019.] (Reddit, Canary, IPSE, UK Parliament Committees, The Times, The Sun, The Times)

2. Evidence that disabled entrepreneurs face disproportionate delays and inappropriate decisions—Work & Pensions Committee written submission (2023) (UK Parliament Committees)

3. AtW processing delays rising from 55 to 84.6 days (Jul 2024–Feb 2025)—The Canary (May 2025) (Canary)

4. Over 60,000 facing delays exceeding nine months, rescinded job offers—The Times (approx. March 2025) (The Times)

5. Leaked policy changes shifting cost of standard items and imposing stricter criteria—The Canary (May 2025) (Canary)

6. Dan Biddle’s Access to Work cuts from 40 to 13 hours/week—The Sun reporting (Aug 2025) (The Sun)

7. Lilac Review’s estimate of £230 bn economic impact and recommendations—The Times (2025) (The Times)

8. Disability pay gap of £2.35/hour and benefit cuts harming equality—Financial Times (2025) (ft.com)

9. Guardian letters attesting to self-employed disabled individuals' struggles under cuts—The Guardian (Mar 2025) (theguardian.com)

• The Sun

• The Times

• The Times

• ft.com

• theguardian.com