Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2015 to Question 220893, when the new closer working approach was introduced; and what figures he plans to use to measure that approach's effectiveness.

Because of the closer working approach, Jobcentre Plus and Benefit Delivery Centre representatives now meet with Work Programme performance managers prior to the monthly contract performance review meetings with providers. These meetings allow representatives to agree performance issues for discussion with the provider.

Work Programme providers and Jobcentre Plus have worked together since the start of the programme. In January 2013, as part of our commitment to continuous improvement we called for the development of closer working with providers to help the programme progress and achieve mutual objectives. Statistical releases have shown that performance has continually improved since the programme was introduced in June 2011.