Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of employment and support allowance have been admitted to the new enterprise allowance scheme in each year since that scheme began.

NEA was rolled out nationally in August 2011, with eligibility for JSA claimants only. Eligibility was broadened to ESA WRAG recipients in February 2013 although we expect the vast majority of participants to continue to be those claiming JSA.

The benefit type of claimants admitted on New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) is not routinely recorded. Analysis has been conducted to identify NEA mentor starts by ESA claimants since eligibility for NEA was opened up on 18 February 2013. The results are shown in the table below.

Estimated number of NEA mentor starts by ESA claimants in each calendar year:

Source:

DWP National Benefits Database and Opportunities Database

Notes:

Figures rounded to the nearest 10

Data available to 31^st March 2014

More than 99% of mentor starts were matched to an appropriate benefit record