Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of self-employment claimants who will start receiving the new enterprise allowance each month once the universal credit full service is fully rolled-out.

The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) is contracted to end in March 2019, before the scheduled completion date for the rollout of Universal Credit (UC) in 2022. We are currently exploring options regarding our self-employment support offer for post-2019.

Over the years 2017 to 2019 the latest phase of the NEA scheme has provided the following support to self-employed people:

- 86,154 places on Link-Up: Start-Up workshops for people considering self-employment;

- 56,000 mentoring places for people wanting to start a new business; and

- 24,000 mentoring places for UC claimants who are already self-employed and need

additional support to grow their earnings.