Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people undertook an unpaid work placement in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many such placements lasted for longer than one month.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) participates in centrally run and unpaid work placement schemes designed to promote social mobility and offer the opportunity to work shadow/gain work experience in the Civil Service. This continues practice in its legacy departments of Business, Innovation Skills (BIS) and Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

The schemes in question on which we can report numbers are:

• The Early Diversity Internship Programme, a work shadowing scheme offered to years 1-2 undergraduates, for a week at Easter
• Civil Service Work Experience is for school students between the ages of 15 and 18. Placements are for less than 1 month based on school holidays.
• Movement to Work to help 18-24 year olds into work, for 4-6 weeks. Job Seeker’s Allowance is still paid together with any travel costs.

Since the formation of BEIS in July 2016, we have had 1 Movement to Work placement lasting for 6 weeks and 11 Civil Service Work Experience placements lasting less than one month.

Prior to the formation of BEIS, former BIS had 2 Early Diversity Internship Programme students in April 2016.

Available figures from legacy departments for Movement to Work and Civil Service Work Experience schemes for the previous 5 financial years are below: