Disabled man may be forced to close his business after DWP slashed his Access to Work support

Josh Wintersgill has many dreams, but two stick out. The first is to be a paralympic shooter. The second is to swim with dolphins.

“I’ve not yet done it,” Wintersgill tells the Big Issue. “But I sold one of my first ever slings to a gentleman who, sadly, is no longer with us. His mum posted a photo on Facebook of him using my sling to swim with dolphins in Florida.

“There was something really special about that.”

Travelling as a wheelchair user isn’t always straightforward, and Wintersgill – who has spinal muscular atrophy – had a “really bad” air travel experience in 2017. Hoping to save other disabled people from similar indignities, he founded ableMove.

The company produces fabric sling devices which are used to lift people in and out of wheelchairs. It also runs training sessions to teach airport staff how to use them.

“There’s something really nice about somebody with a disability helping others with disabilities and also making a living out of it,” he says.

But this might not be sustainable for much longer. In May, Wintersgill’s Access to Work (AtW) grant was slashed by 80% – and if his appeal isn’t accepted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), he might have to shutter his business.

Read more:

• Disabled people warn of brutal ‘secret’ cuts to DWP Access to Work support: ‘It’s been horrific’
• Disabled woman forced to quit job she loves after DWP support slashed: ‘I can’t make it make sense’
• DWP plans could see more than 50,000 disabled people lose access to vital work support

“My understanding from speaking to others in the community that have access to work is that it’s not just me,” he continued. “It’s like a blank rule that they’re cutting everybody by 80%.”

Access to Work provides support grants for disabled people and their employers to cover work-related costs; more than 60,000 people received one in 2023/24.

There has been no formal change to the scheme’s eligibility guidance. But increasing numbers of disabled people are reporting severe reductions to AtW awards – often of more than two-thirds – with no warning or explanation.

The Big Issue has previously covered these cuts here and here.

Wintersgill is among this unlucky cohort. ableMove is undeniably a success – Wintersgill was named 4th by the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 List 2025, and his slings have helped hundreds of people.

But in May, his AtW coach slashed his support worker hours from five days a week to one.

“I was told I would only receive 10 hours of support a week, compared to 45 hours a week which I had on my previous award,” he said.

“I then went back to him [my case worker] and said, I’m really sorry, but I think you’ve made a really big mistake here. I need support. I can’t run my business without it. Here’s all the evidence that you asked for. I’ve given it to you, and yet you’re still cutting me by 80%? None of it made sense.”

While his appeal is pending, Wintersgill is funding all his support and travel expenses out of the business. By November, he will run out of funds to do so.

“Right now, I’m lost in the system. I don’t really know what’s going on,” he said.

What is happening with Access to Work?

‘What is going on’ is a very thorny question.

A consultation on the future of the Access to Work scheme has closed. Ministers are currently mulling over changes to the program, explains Shani Dhanda, co-founder of the Access to Work Collective – but it’s been incredibly opaque.

“Despite repeated calls from disabled people, organisations, employers and suppliers, the DWP has failed to provide any clarity on the future of Access to Work,” Dhanda told Big Issue.

“Support is being quietly changed and cut while ministers deny it, and forcing ‘consideration committee’ members working with the DWP on reform to Access to Work to sign NDAs only deepens the secrecy.”

The consideration committee is a working group set up by the DWP to formulate the new policy. Members have reportedly been require to sign non-disclosure agreements before they can participate, effectively gagging them from speaking about the process publicly.

The Big Issue sent the DWP a freedom of information request asking for any internal documents relating to “reducing or reassessing Access to Work awards, particularly at the renewal stage”.

The DWP confirmed that it holds the information; however, it refused to provide it “because it relates to the development of government policy”.

“This exemption is being used to protect the integrity of the policymaking process,” the response continued.

Disabled people are in the dark while this process continues, Dhanda warns.

“A scheme meant to deliver inclusion is being reshaped behind closed doors, leaving disabled people, employers and suppliers unable to plan and, in many cases, already losing jobs, staff and contracts,” she said.

Against the backdrop of the proposals to cut personal independence payment (PIP) – dropped after a mammoth backbench rebellion earlier this year – it’s hard not to read the changes as a cost-cutting mission.

But disability advocates have questioned the logic behind this. According to disability charity Scope, every £1 spent on Access to Work “provides a saving of £1.88 to the treasury”. Disabled people forced out of work by the withdrawal of the payment will require more support from the NHS and social care.

For disabled people on the sharp end of these cuts, the results are immediate.

“It’s scary for three reasons,” Wintersgill says. “One, because it pays me my salary. Two, the products and services that we provide are ultimately benefiting other disabled people. And thirdly, outside of running a business, I’m trying to get myself onto the great British Paralympic team for shooting, and my salary helps fund that.”

Wintersgill has secured his spot on the British Talent Pathway programme, with the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles firmly in sight.

“I’ve actually just been selected for my first major international in the United Arab Emirates in October,” he said. “But my worry is, if I can’t fund it, I’m then going to have to stop shooting because I can’t afford it.”

Wintersgill understands that the sustainability of the scheme is an “ongoing problem”, but believes that slashing support is counterintuitive to the government’s ‘get Britain working’ agenda.

“We can’t, on the one hand, be saying we want people off of benefits and we want people in work, and then, on the other hand, completely strip the support that they rely on in order to get into work and retain a job,” he said.

“I’d like to think that if Keir Starmer was to find that this was happening, I think it would probably make him quite angry. At least, that’s what I would hope.”

A DWP spokesperson said that the government was working to fix inherited issues in the AtW system.

“Mr Wintersgills’s Access to Work reconsideration is underway and we will update him as soon as possible,” they said.

“We inherited an Access to Work scheme that is failing both employees and employers, which is why – as part of our welfare reform – we consulted on how it could be improved.

“We are reviewing all aspects of the scheme and will develop future policy with disabled people and the organisations that represent them.”

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