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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Employment Schemes (5 January 2022)

Question Asked

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)

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 ‘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 2nd 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

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.