Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2021 to Question 137230, how many applications to the Kickstart scheme have been approved by (a) region and (b) sector to date.

I refer the honourable member to PQ 145064.

I am pleased to announce that as of the 26^th of February 2021 my department has received over 11,000 applications for funding from the Kickstart Scheme. So far there has been:

• Around 4,000 young people starting their new jobs with over 30,000 jobs made available to eligible young people;
• Over 140,000 approved jobs;
• Over 900 approved Gateway Organisations.