Recommendations & Conclusions
3 items
7
Conclusion
Thirty-Ninth Report - DWP Employment Su…
Rejected
The Department had aimed for Kickstart to have achieved 250,000 job starts by 31 December 2021, the initial closing date for new job placements to begin.24 In practice, take up of the scheme was slower than the Department expected; by mid-December 2021 there had been 110,000 starts, with more than …
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The Department had aimed for Kickstart to have achieved 250,000 job starts by 31 December 2021, the initial closing date for new job placements to begin.24 In practice, take up of the scheme was slower than the Department expected; by mid-December 2021 there had been 110,000 starts, with more than 200,000 vacancies still waiting to be filled.25 The Department is now aiming for 168,000 starts by 31 March 2022, the new deadline for job placements to begin.26 The Department attributed this slower than expected progress to a range of factors, including the extension of the furlough scheme (reducing the anticipated surge in unemployment), the reintroduction of national lockdown in early 2021 (reducing the ability of employers to expand their workforce), and the reopening of the economy in summer 2021 (enabling many young people to find jobs themselves on the open market).27
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Government response AI summary
The government disagrees with the committee's assertion of slow progress in filling Kickstart vacancies, stating that around 160,000 jobs were filled by the scheme's end date and detailing the active engagement methods used with employers and young people.
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HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Thirty-Ninth Report - DWP Employment Su…
Rejected
In September 2021, the number of young (16- to 24-year-old) unemployed people claiming Universal Credit and searching for work for more than one year was approximately 144,000, three times the pre-pandemic number of 48,800 in February 2020.38 In the same month there were 186,000 Kickstart vacancies.39 Since April 2020, the …
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In September 2021, the number of young (16- to 24-year-old) unemployed people claiming Universal Credit and searching for work for more than one year was approximately 144,000, three times the pre-pandemic number of 48,800 in February 2020.38 In the same month there were 186,000 Kickstart vacancies.39 Since April 2020, the number of young unemployed people claiming Universal Credit for any length of time has not dropped below 200,000.40 The Department was confident that Kickstart had reduced the scale of increase in long-term youth unemployment compared to a scenario in which the scheme had not existed.41 Clearly, however, there have been sufficient Kickstart vacancies for the scheme to have made a greater contribution to reducing youth unemployment, had vacancies been filled faster. Evaluating Kickstart’s performance
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Government response AI summary
The government disagrees with the committee's assertion that slow progress was made in filling Kickstart vacancies, highlighting the 160,000 jobs filled and various active engagement methods used with employers and young people.
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HM Treasury
13
Recommendation
Thirty-Ninth Report - DWP Employment Su…
Rejected
We have previously observed that the Department’s evaluation of its employment support schemes depends on clear evidence, and that accountability to stakeholders requires detailed and timely publication of performance data during each scheme’s operation. We recommended the Department produce regular data updates on its schemes, including Kickstart, at a local …
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We have previously observed that the Department’s evaluation of its employment support schemes depends on clear evidence, and that accountability to stakeholders requires detailed and timely publication of performance data during each scheme’s operation. We recommended the Department produce regular data updates on its schemes, including Kickstart, at a local granular level.52 However, the Department did not publish any local data (at a local authority and constituency level) on Kickstart employers and participants until November 2021, and then it was in the form of an ad hoc answer to a parliamentary question, rather than as part of a regular, highly visible publication on its website.53 The Department said that, having set up the scheme quickly, it had faced difficulties with the quality of its data, but that as the reliability of its data had improved it had begun to publish more.54 48 Q24. 49 Qq23–24. 50 Qq42, 44. 51 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 19. 52 Committee of Public Accounts, Fifteenth Report of Session 2021–22, DWP Employment support, HC 177, Conclusion and recommendation 5. 53 C&AG’s Report, paragraph 1.19; PQ 58900, 5 November 2021. 54 Q95. 14 DWP Employment Support: Kickstart Scheme 2 Providing support to young people at risk of long-term unemployment Targeting Kickstart on individuals who would most benefit
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Government response AI summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to produce regular data updates on its schemes at a local granular level, and is considering how best it can put information about these schemes into the public domain after their closure and how information is best provided on …
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HM Treasury