The Employment Related Services Association, the representative body for the employment support sector, welcomes the statistics published today showing that the Work Programme has successfully supported 368,000 people into lasting employment. These follow the release of ERSA statistics that show that nearly 640,000 long term unemployed jobseekers have started work whilst on the programme.
These official Government figures show that the Work Programme is exceeding performance expectations for JSA jobseekers. This reflects a recent NAO report which found that the Work Programme is supporting people into employment at the same rate as previous programmes. The report also predicted that performance of the programme is expected to continue to rise.
ERSA’s Work Programme Job Start statistics show that:
- 639,000 individual jobseekers have now entered employment via the Work Programme from its inception in June 2011 to end September 2014. This compares to 595,000 people at end June 2014.
- Over 160,000 young people have now found at least one job on the Work Programme, up from 151,000 three months before.
- Overall, 32,319 jobseekers on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have now gained work though the programme. Many of these jobseekers have complex barriers to work and will have been out of work for a significant period of time.
Both the most recent official DWP statistics, released today, and ERSA’s own Job Start statistics illustrate the significant impact the Work Programme is having on reducing unemployment in the UK. The most recent Labour Market Statistics reflects this with employment now at 30.8 million people in work.
Kirsty McHugh, ERSA Chief Executive, said:
“The falling unemployment figures are a testament to the hard work and dedication of jobseekers and the range of organisations that support them. The Work Programme has now supported nearly 640,000 jobseekers into work and 368,000 to sustain that employment. This can be life changing for people and their families.”
