§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many intermediate labour market programmes have received funding over the last five years; and how much they have received. [85702]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownWe have this year launched 20 StepUP pilots offering guaranteed jobs for up to 5,000 long-term unemployed people. We are investing £40 million in the first two years of the pilot programme. The StepUP pilots are testing the use of intermediate labour markets for those who have not found work through the New Deal. The evaluation of StepUP will provide reliable evidence about the cost effectiveness of this type of intervention, and will inform decisions on the wider use of transitional employment schemes in our welfare to work strategy.
Separately, some New Deal providers match New Deal monies with their own funds to create intermediate labour market opportunities for individual participants. Information on the number of such arrangements and the expenditure incurred is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.