Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on the Work Experience scheme.
Latest data shows that from January 2011 to May 2014, 238,210 people of all ages started a work experience opportunity, of which 196,600 were aged between 18 and 24. Our evaluation shows that work experience is a popular and valuable scheme, particularly for young people – evaluation of ‘Customer experience of the Youth Contract’ found that 74 per cent customers said they gained skills during their placement and 83 per cent said they felt more attractive to employers.