Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Kickstart scheme jobs have been (a) approved and (b) started in each region from April 8th to the most recent date for which information is available.

We are unable at present to provide data on the number of approved jobs by region, as at that stage in the process we do not hold information about the exact location of a job, only the head office of the employer. The table below lists by region the increase in the number of jobs started on the Kickstart Scheme between the 8^th of April and the 6^th May. Over this period, the total number of Kickstart job placements started increased by almost 9,000, to a total of over 20,000.

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.