§ John MannTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people found work of over 13 weeks in 2002, broken down by Progress2Work area; and how many of these remain in employment. [135313]
§ Mr. Browne[holding answer 30 October 2003]: The first phase of Progress2Work was rolled out in March 2002 in 27 pathfinder districts. The programme was extended to cover 60 districts by April 2003, and national roll out will be complete by March 2004.
Given the range of problems faced by recovering drug mis-users and the relatively long periods of participation, this is not a programme where we would expect immediate results. However, by the end of 2002, Progress2Work had already been successful in helping 31 people into employment lasting 13 weeks or longer. Due to the small numbers involved, we cannot give figures broken down by Progress2Work area, to avoid the risk of identifying individuals.
As with all of our welfare to work programmes, Progress2Work will be subject to evaluation and the results from this will be published when they become available. This will include an evaluation of whether Progress2Work is successful in helping people to remain in employment in the longer term.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people securing employment through the New Deal 25 plus remained in that job for(a) more than two, (b) more than six and (c) more than 12 months, in each year since the New Deal 25 plus was introduced. [133029]
§ Mr. BrowneBy the end of June 2003, 154,900 people had been helped into work through New Deal 25 plus. We do not collect data on the length of time an individual remains in the same job but we do record whether they have returned to claiming jobseekers allowance (JSA). If there is no claim to JSA within 13 weeks then their employment is classed as 'sustained'. This is the first point at which we collect such data. The number of people gaining jobs through New Deal 25 plus and the number of those who had not made a new claim to JSA within 13 weeks, six and 12 months is in the table.
New Deal 25 plus—number into work since 1998 Year (January to December) People gaining a job No claim for JSA within 13 weeks No claim for JSA within 6 months No claim for JSA within 12 months 1998 (from June) 6,080 4,460 3,220 3,120 1999 27,040 21,650 17,300 16,560 2000 27,470 22,330 17,930 17,080 20011 32,500 25,960 21,340 20,120 2002 41,450 31,720 26,520 226,520 2003 (to June) 20,360 16,030 215,610 215,610 1 Includes jobs gained in both the pre-April 2001 New Deal 25 plus programme and the post April re-engineered New Deal 25 plus programme.
618W2 These numbers will reduce over time as they include people for whom six or 12 months will not have elapsed since the job was gained.
Source:
New Deal Evaluation Database.