Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications have been made to the Kickstart scheme as of 14 January 2022; and of those applications how many (a) have been accepted, (b) have been refused due to suspected fraud, (c) have been refused for another reason and (d) are still awaiting a decision.

As of the 14^th January 2022, the number of applications received from gateways (on behalf of employers) and directly from individual employers to the Kickstart Scheme was 65,000. Of these, 31,000 applications were approved and 32,000 were rejected. The number of approved and rejected applications do not sum to the total amount of applications received as some were withdrawn prior to a decision being made. No applications are awaiting a decision. We are unable to disclose details regarding refused applications due to suspected fraud. If cases are under investigation, releasing any information could impede that.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the programme.