Work Choice: Final statistical release

DWP has published final statistics for the Work Choice programmne which finished delivery in October 2019.

You can read the statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/work-choice-referrals-starts-and-job-outcomes-to-october-2019

Referrals and starts

• over the whole programme, there were 210,330 referrals and 158,420 starts to Work Choice
• in the final year in which referrals were being made, between March 2017 and February 2018, there were 34,320 referrals and 25,090 starts
• Referrals and Starts from April 2017 are not comparable with previous periods since referrals were no longer made in Scotland from this point

Customer characteristics

• 51% of people who started Work Choice in the final year were claiming JSA (with or without also claiming DLA and PIP) with a further 26% claiming UC
• 5% were claiming no benefit on referral
• 16% of participants had mental health needs, 1% severe mental illness, 15% a mild learning disability and 7% a moderate to severe learning disability

Short job outcomes (13 weeks in paid work)

• of the 158,420 Work Choice starts over the whole programme, 55,330 (35%) achieved a short job outcome
• the proportion of starts that obtained a short job outcome increased from the start of the programme up to March 2015, when there is a discontinuity in the series due to Remploy receiving a Work Choice contract
• of those who started between the contract extension in October 2015 and the end of the programme, 30% achieved a short job outcome within 12 months of starting
• participants were more likely to obtain a supported short job outcome than an unsupported one. Of those who started between October 2015 and the end of the programme and who achieved a short job outcome, 72% of the short job outcomes were supported and 28% were unsupported

Sustained job outcomes (26 weeks in paid work)

• of the 158,420 Work Choice starts over the whole programme, 36,170 (23%) achieved a sustained job outcome
• the proportion of Work Choice starts achieving a sustained job outcome within 24 months saw a steady rise from the start of the programme to March 2015 (when Remploy received a Work Choice contract)
• This decreased slightly towards the end of the programme, from 25% in February 2017 to 16% in October 2017 (the last month for which starts had 24 months to obtain a sustained job outcome)
• participants who started between November 2017 and April 2018 had fewer than 24 months to achieve a sustained job outcome, and therefore are not fully comparable to earlier cohorts