Work and Health Programme statistics
Official Statistics on the Work and Health Programme.
The Work and Health Programme (WHP) predominantly helps disabled people, as well as the long-term unemployed and certain other priority groups (known as early access groups) to enter into and stay in work.
From November 2018, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has released official statistics about WHP. These provide information on a regular basis about the number of:
- referrals to WHP
- starts to WHP
- job outcomes (added in May 2019)
- first earnings from employment (added in February 2020)
- provider performance levels (added in November 2020)
In September 2023, WHP was expanded to include a new element called WHP Pioneer, which targets economically inactive claimants in the disability and early access groups. As of May 2024, statistics have also been released to provide information on:
- referrals to WHP Pioneer
- starts to WHP Pioneer
Further information on WHP Pioneer can be found in the background information note.
Statistics covered in this publication include data collected during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The measures taken during the pandemic have had an impact on the delivery of the WHP and on its performance. During the first wave of the pandemic – in March 2020 – DWP deployed a number of measures to deal with the unprecedented levels of demand on the department and therefore there were lower numbers of referrals to the WHP during this time.
DWP’s priority continues to be ensuring people get their benefit payments and to provide support for those who need it the most. As face-to-face meetings were also suspended, DWP provided additional online signposting to the WHP, and enabled self-referrals from individuals who were eligible. Providers took alternative routes to service delivery including digital options and providing a telephony service to ensure support continued. Additionally, some employment sectors were unable to recruit and others saw substantial reductions in job opportunities.
This context should be considered when assessing the success or timeliness of outcomes from the programme in relation to this period.
Further breakdowns of these statistics are available on Stat-Xplore, an online tool for exploring some of the main DWP statistics.
Find announcements on the future releases of WHP statistics in the statistics calendar.
Latest release
Guidance
Release strategy
Previous releases
Consultation
This consultation has now closed. Read our formal response in the latest update to the Work and Health Programme statistics release strategy.
Updates to this page
Last updated 29 August 2024 + show all updates
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics — this has data to May 2024.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics — this has data to February 2024.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics — this has data to November 2023.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics — this has data to August 2023.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics — this has data to May 2023. Also added a note the page that the statistics are now classed as ‘Official Statistics’.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to February 2023.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to November 2022.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to August 2022.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to May 2022.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to February 2022.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to November 2021.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to August 2021.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics - this has data to to May 2021.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics with data to February 2021.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics with data to November 2020.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, with data to August 2020.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, with data to May 2020.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, with data to February 2020.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, with data to November 2019.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, with data to August 2019.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, with data to May 2019.
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Added a link to the latest release of Work and Health Programme statistics, these have data to February 2019.
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Added link to latest Work and Health Programme Statistics to November 2018.
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Published the first release of Work and Health Programme statistics, this has data to August 2018.
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First published.