Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what average length of time was taken by jobseekers between their first appointment at a Jobcentre Plus and entry into employment between 2005 and 2015.

The exact information requested is not available. Most people leave Jobseeker’s Allowance very quickly; Of those making a new JSA claim around a third leave within a month, two-thirds within three months and over eighty per cent within six months. A destinations survey in 2011 found that 70% of people leaving JSA did so because they had found work and, of those, three quarters were in employment 7-8 months later.