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Written question asked by Siobhain McDonagh (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 November 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 November 2023 (named day). It was answered by Jo Churchill (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 November 2023 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Sector-Based Work Academy Programme

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sector-based work academy programme starts have taken place as of 7 November 2023.

Answer

Sector-based work academies were first launched in August 2011 in England and January 2012 in Scotland. Regular statistical releases on sector-based work academies, covering participation by those on legacy unemployment benefits, began in 2011 and ended in 2017. These statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017

The scheme was relaunched as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) in July 2020 as part of the Government’s Plan for Jobs. Due to data limitations, we are unable to provide a geographical breakdown for SWAPs that took place before the start of the 2021/22 financial year.

Data for the financial years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 shows that, as of 27th October 2023, there were a total of 245,300 starts to a Sector-based Work Academy Programme. The breakdowns of these starts are provided in the attached tables.

Notes on the data:

Attached are tables listing the number of SWAP starts to date by Country, Region, Local Authority, Parliamentary Constituency, Sector and Age band. The figures used are correct as of 27th October 2023 and these figures have been rounded according to departmental standards.

These figures reflect the number of starts by claimants in receipt of Universal Credit (UC), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support (IS).

It is important to note that the information provided shows the current home location of the person who has started a SWAP. For starts by those in receipt of JSA, ESA or IS, due to data limitations a location cannot be assigned to these starts and as such they are categorised as unknown within the figures. SWAPs are run in England and Scotland, where a person’s current home location is outside of this they have also been categorised as unknown.

Although care is taken when processing and recording SWAP starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any clerical recording system, but is provided in the interests of transparency.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
25
Session
2023-24
Attachment
Attachment
Subjects
Sector-based work academy programme
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk