Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of the Plan For Jobs in supporting people into work in Ashfield.

Through our Plan for Jobs, we are targeting tailored support schemes to people of all ages to help them prepare for, get into and progress in work. These include Kickstart where we have delivered tens of thousands of six-month work placements for Universal Credit claimants aged 16-24 at risk of unemployment, and; Restart which provides 12 months’ intensive employment support to Universal Credit claimants who are unemployed for a year. Our Plan for Jobs interventions will support more than two million people. We have also recruited an additional 13,500 Work Coaches to provide support to unemployed people to find a job.

We continue to ensure that provision is available to support people to move into and progress in jobs in local growing sectors.

This includes Ashfield where the Jobcentre has been working with employers from the transport and distribution sectors delivering Sector Work based Academy Programmes, in the wider East Midlands Kickstart has provided 13,040 job opportunities for young people aged 18-24.