PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Employment Schemes (5 January 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sector based work academies have taken place in each (a) country and (b) region of the UK since that programme began.

Asked by:
Alison McGovern (Labour)

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 ‘SWAP’ in July 2020 as part of the government’s Plan for Jobs. Data for the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22 shows that as of 2^nd January 2022, there was a total of 127,360 starts to a Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP). The breakdown of these starts by nation and region is displayed in the following tables:

Table 1: SWAP starts by nation

Nation	Starts FY 2020/21	Starts FY 2021/22	Total Starts
England	58,310	56,760	115,070
Scotland	6,120	5,750	11,880
Unknown	60	350	410
Total	64,500	62,860	127,360

Table 2: SWAP starts by region

Region	Starts FY 2020/21	Starts FY 2021/22	Total Starts
West Midlands	5,000	4,960	9,960
Central, East & North Scotland	4,340	3,990	8,330
South & West Scotland	1,780	1,770	3,550
London & Essex	12,950	15,380	28,340
North & East Midlands	7,800	7,120	14,920
North Central	6,960	7,060	14,020
North East	5,550	4,570	10,110
North West	5,340	4,550	9,890
South East	8,200	8,190	16,390
South West	6,510	4,940	11,450
Unknown	60	350	410
Total	64,500	62,860	127,360

Note on above: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10; components may not sum due to rounding. 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).

Answered by:
Mims Davies (Conservative)
11 January 2022