Written question asked by Derek Conway (Independent Conservative) on Monday, 9 March 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 11 March 2009. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Thursday, 26 March 2009 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pathways to Work and Workstep

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the comparative effectiveness of prime contractors on the Pathways to Work programme and Workstep.

Answer: Provider-led pathways commenced in December 2007 and now operate in 60 per cent. of the country. Provider-led pathways operate under the Department for Work and Pensions standard prime contractor model.Workstep has been available nationally since 2001 but does not use the prime contractor model. The service is delivered through a network of providers from the range of private sector, voluntary organisations and local authorities. No comparison of the two models has therefore been undertaken for these two programmes.

Secondary information