Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times a Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Team has been used since May 2010; and how many deployments have occurred in situations where 20 or more people faced redundancy.

The Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service works closely with employers and people facing redundancy to ensure they have access to all the help and information they need. The service aims to address the impact of job losses on workers and on the local community by helping people move into new jobs as quickly as possible.

The number of people in work has increased by 1.35 million since 2010 - over a million of these jobs are full-time – and the employment rate is now 72.3%, the highest it has been since 2008.

The level of redundancy is 55,000 lower than in 2010.

7,506 employers have accepted redundancy support from the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service since May 2010. Of these employers, 6,075 involved potential redundancies of 20 or more employees