Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications to be a representative of a group of employers from (a) the West Midlands and (b) the UK her Department has received for the Kickstart scheme.
The Kickstart Scheme only opened to applications on 2 September, and already thousands of employers have expressed interest in providing Kickstart opportunities for young people. We are pleased to confirm that the department is now processing these applications from across the UK, this is currently a clerical process, so reliable management information, particularly on geographical areas, is not yet available.