Click on the map to see a larger image
Work Programme providers receive a ‘job outcome’ payment for helping unemployed people into sustained employment (lasting for at least 3 or 6 months, depending on the participant’s benefit status). The map shows the proportion of claimants who had achieved a job outcome by December 2013, out of those who had spent enough time on the programme to do so.
The map doesn’t give the whole story, since the proportion of participants achieving job outcomes will depend on the profile of Work Programme participants in each area. For example, providers have generally been more successful at placing young JSA claimants into sustained employment than ESA claimants who may have more complex needs.
Provider performance will also depend on total referral volumes and how these have changed over time. If an area has seen a disproportionately large influx of new referrals in recent months (who will have had only a short time in which to achieve a job outcome), it could push down the total share of participants achieving job outcomes.
Data on job outcomes for all constituencies is published on the DWP website. For further information on how the scheme works for unemployed people, see the Library’s standard note Work Programme.
Feargal McGuinness