Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on the Youth Obligation Support Programme in the 2019-20 financial year; how many young people entered the Youth Obligation Support Programme in that year; what proportion of young people on the Youth Obligation Support programme in 2019-20 were sanctioned compared with young people not on that programme over that same period; what proportion of young people on the Youth Obligation Support programme in 2019-20 were offered a traineeship or work placement if they were still on the Youth Obligation after six months; and how many young people on the Youth Obligation Support programme in that time period left the programme before six months without finding work.

The budget for Youth Obligation Support Program (YOSP) for the 2019-2020 Financial year was £43m.

Participation in the program is not automatically recorded by the Universal Credit system. The available data has been recorded manually by Work Coaches between January 2019 and January 2020. This is the latest 12-month period for which data is available. It is internal management information and does not meet the quality standards required for published Official Statistics.

123,000 18-21 years olds started YOSP between the 1st February 2019 and 31st January 2020.

In January 2020, 6.9% of 18-21 year old claimants on YOSP and in receipt of Universal Credit, who were subject to conditionality at the point where the sanction was applied had a deduction taken from their UC full service award, compared to 4.8% of all other claimants in the same age range.

Young people on YOSP are subject to the Intensive Work Search Regime and have to attend additional appointments as well as being likely to have more mandatory requirements than other young people. Therefore, young people on YOSP may have more requirements which they may fail to meet. A failure to meet a mandatory requirement can lead to a sanction where the claimant cannot demonstrate good reason for the failure.

The proportion of participants who were still on YOSP after 6 months who were referred to an Apprenticeship, Sector Based Work Academy, Traineeship or Work Experience in the period 1st February 2019 – 31st January 2020 was 18%.

Clerical data shows 55,400 young people left before 6 months on the YOSP program between 1^st February 2019 – 31^st January 2020. There are a number of reasons why participants may leave the programme, 60% move into a job or apprenticeship. Of the remaining 40% (22,300), the main reason for leaving is the claimant choosing to end the UC claim. This may include people who have found a job but have not reported that to their Work Coach.

Note

Figures are rounded to nearest 100