Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Sector-based work academy programme starts there have been in each month since the initiative started in each (a) region, (b) nation and (c) sector.
The data available shows cumulative starts to the programme for the current financial year. Data collection began in June 2020, with staff retrospectively reporting starts from April to June 2020 to provide a full picture of the financial year.
Data up to 6th December 2020 shows that there have been a total of 44,130 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
| Total |
England | 39,670 |
Scotland | 4,370 |
Total | 44,130 |
Table 2: SWAP starts by region
| Total |
West Midlands | 3,210 |
Central, East & North Scotland | 3,320 |
South & West Scotland | 1,050 |
London & Essex | 8,530 |
North & East Midlands | 5,470 |
North Central | 4,880 |
North East | 3,940 |
North West | 3,500 |
South East | 5,730 |
South West | 4,510 |
Total | 44,130 |
Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum due to rounding.
We do not hold data on Sector-based work academy programme starts by month, or by sector.
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).
Official Statistics for the period August 2011 (scheme launch) to November 2017 were published in July 2018. These show there were 330,090 starts to sector-based work academy training. This data covers legacy benefit claimants only.
Data for claimants using the current Universal Credit Full Service is not available for this time period.
Further statistics can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-schemes-work-experience-sector-based-work-academy-and-skills-conditionality-starts-to-november-2017