Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Kickstart applications waiting for a decision for eight weeks or more after submission as at 27 May 2021 were from organisations based in Hertfordshire.

Delivering the Kickstart Scheme at pace has led to a limited data set which makes it hard to present an accurate snapshot of a smaller geographical area, meaning we are currently unable to provide information at a county wide level. We are continuing to develop our data, which may help in sharing this level of information in due course.

Since the launch of the Kickstart Scheme we have made changes to the assessment process to enable a quicker turnaround of applications, whilst ensuring that we continue to protect taxpayer’s money through robust and fair procedures. Data from 27 May shows that over the previous 7 days, the average number of days from application receipt to grant agreement issued is less than 20 days.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information available for the program.