Written question asked by Derek Conway (Independent Conservative) on Wednesday, 4 March 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 6 March 2009. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Thursday, 12 March 2009 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Workstep

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representations he has received on the effectiveness of the Workstep programme.

Answer: Between 2005 and 2006, we conducted two pieces of research. The first, in July 2005 considered user and provider views, and involved 57 customers of Workstep and 49 provider staff from 31 provider organisations. The second, in March 2006 was a case study of 17 Workstep provider organisations exploring the design, delivery and performance of the Workstep programme.In addition, from December 2007 to March 2008 we ran an extensive consultation exercise on proposals to introduce a new programme to replace Workstep and other programmes. This attracted over 450 responses. One of the questions covered in the consultation exercise related to replacing Workstep with a single new specialist disability employment programme. Several public reports have also been published over the last few years identifying the need for improvements to existing disability employment provision.

Secondary information