Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans for the Skills Funding Agency to have a data sharing agreement in place with London Work Programme providers so that referrals to Skills support for Work Programme participants in Employment can commence.

The specification for this programme was approved by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); however data protection issues emerged after contracts were issued. The Agency is working with DWP to tackle these challenges, and a learner consent form was issued to DWP Work Programme providers in November 2014. While this has enabled the sharing of data, referrals have not increased as expected. The Agency is urgently discussing further solutions with DWP to secure a satisfactory resolution.