Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Work Programme in relation to its support for older people.

The Work Programme is succeeding. It is helping push long-term unemployment to its lowest level in over 5 years, and is transforming people’s lives.

An independent evaluation of the Work Programme published by DWP in December 2014 identified that 63.9% of older participants found Work Programme support useful in helping them find work or move closer to work, and 63.5% felt that the support offered through the Work Programme matched their needs.

Since this research was carried out, we have made changes to our contracts with providers to further strengthen our performance management activities, and deliver even better outcomes for participants.

A copy of the full evaluation report has been placed in the House of Commons library.