Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many financial corrections were made in the final round of the European Social Fund; and of what value.

In the final accounting period (2023-24) of the European Social Fund (ESF) England 2014-2020 Programme, 1,047 financial corrections were made in respect of irregular expenditure.

The total value of those corrections was ~£13.5million. Most of this expenditure was replaced through the programme's higher than budgeted expenditure and therefore did not result in a repayment to the European Commission. The net amount repaid was ~£0.2million, relating to the Less Developed Region category (Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly), where sufficient overbooked expenditure was not available to replace the corrected expenditure.