§ Mr. George OsborneTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of the £40 million allocated to Progress2Work has been spent; [147910]
(2)what the average cost is of each Progress2Work participant who has been found sustained employment; [147912]
(3)what percentage of participants in Progress2Work have been placed in sustained employment. [147913]
§ Mr. BrowneIn April 2001, £40 million was allocated to enable Jobcentre Plus to develop Progress2Work provision. To date approximately 22.5 per cent. of this budget has been spent.
7,797 people had started Progress2Work by the end of November 2003. Of these 1,402 people had been helped into work; 968 were still receiving in work support from their provider and a further 434 were in sustained employment. This represents 5.6 per cent. of the total participants.
Progress2Work is an evolving programme, phased in over 3 stages, with over 50 per cent. of participants joining in the last 6 months. The final phase contracts are still being put in place. The cost of a job and sustained job outcome will continue to drop as more participants move into employment. Currently costs per job outcome come out at £7,229 and at £23,136 per sustainable job.
Progress2Work has been effective at helping this very disadvantaged group back into employment. The proportion of current participants who are in supported job outcomes is approximately 20 per cent. Additionally there is also a consistent increase in the numbers moving from Progress2Work into employment. Costs and outcomes for Progress2Work have not yet stabilised as the programme is still developing.