Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of working age refugees resettled via the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme are in paid employment.

The Home Office does not centrally collect the information required to calculate the percentage of working age refugees resettled via the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme who are in paid employment for any point in time. As part of the evaluation of the VPRS, we are capturing data which will include employment rates in the first year after arrival, and we are working with DWP and HMRC to arrange access to their datasets so that we can continue to collect data over a longer term.

We recognise the difficulties resettled people can face when looking for work. We have funded a pilot project to provide additional employment support and are now evaluating what it has delivered. We continue to work closely with colleagues in DWP to ensure that all those whom we resettle are aware of, and receive, the support they are entitled to, and we will be sharing the learning from the pilot with DWP.