Work and Health Programme statistics to August 2023

Question 1

1.  Introduction

Accepted Answer

The Work and Health Programme (WHP) was launched in England and Wales between November 2017 and April 2018 to help the following groups of people:

Disability group – voluntary for disabled people as defined in the Equality Act (2010). This is the main group that the WHP is aimed at.
Early Access group – voluntary and aimed at people who may need support to move into employment and are in one of a number of priority groups (for example homeless, ex-armed forces, care leavers, refugees).
Long-term Unemployed group – mandatory for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) or Universal Credit (UC) claimants who have reached 24 months of unemployment. Note: referrals to the WHP LTU group are only available between April 2018 and October 2022.

The WHP is delivered by 5 providers across 6 areas, known as Contract Package Areas (CPAs). In some CPAs, the government has designed the WHP in consultation with Local Enterprise Partnerships and city regions (partnerships between local authorities and businesses). These are known as Devolved Deal Areas (DDA). In London and Greater Manchester, where devolution deals are in place, the WHP is commissioned and contract managed by the local authorities, known as Local Government Partners (LGPs), who are match-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF).

People are referred by jobcentres to work with organisations known as providers from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Providers are paid a service delivery fee as well as outcome-related payments when a person receives a job outcome.

The WHP was originally scheduled to stop taking all referrals at the end of October 2022. However, the Department for Work and Pensions has extended referrals for the Disability and Early Access groups from November 2022 to September 2024 and have agreed with providers and Local Government Partners to provide support for around 100,000 more people, most of whom will be disabled.

Up until the end of October 2022, the WHP was part funded as a European Union funded project as part of the European Social Fund (ESF) 2014 to 2020. From 1 November 2022, the funding from the ESF stopped and the WHP is now funded through Treasury funding for the national CPAs and grant funded for the LGPs.

Question 2

2.  Main Stories

Accepted Answer

The statistics show:

between November 2017 and August 2023, 430,000 individuals have been referred to the programme with 290,000 having started on the programme
of the number of participants who started on the programme between November 2017 and August 2021 (the most recent point by which participants would have had the full 24 months on the programme), 31% achieved a job outcome and 46% achieved first earnings from employment within 24 months
in the last three months, the performance levels of the programme (actual divided by expected number of job outcomes) have gradually declined from the all-time high seen in October 2021 (156%) to levels that fluctuate around 100%; 96% (June 2023), 104% (July 2023) and 97% (August 2023). See expectations for more information on how these figures are calculated

Question 3

3.  What you need to know

Accepted Answer

The WHP statistics cover 6 different measures:

Referrals: Work coaches in jobcentres will send details of a person wanting to join the WHP to a provider. Individuals can be referred more than once if they do not start. Figures presented in this publication do not include cancelled or rejected referrals
Individuals referred: Since one individual can have multiple referrals, individuals referred is the number of individual people referred. This means only the first referral per person is counted
Starts: A start on the programme is recorded when a WHP participant attends the initial face-to-face meeting with the provider. Most starts should take place within 15 working days, although starts outside this window may occur if the customer does not attend the initial meeting within this time frame
First earnings from employment: The point at which a participant achieves their first earnings from their first employment whilst on the programme. A participant may not necessarily go on to achieve a job outcome. Statistics on first earnings from employment do not include earnings from self-employment
Job outcomes: A provider is classed as achieving a job outcome when a participant reaches either a specified level of earnings once in employment (which varies across the different areas - see the background information note for details) or 6 months of being in self-employment
Performance expectations: Job outcome estimates derived by DWP prior to the programme start

Timeline of the roll out of the WHP from November 2017 to August 2023

Referrals to the Early Access and Disability groups began in November 2017. In March 2018 the WHP became available to all areas of the country. LTU referrals began in April 2018 and were suspended at the end of October 2022.

During the UK-wide lockdowns, beginning in March 2020, the face-to-face delivery of the WHP by providers was suspended. This meant that providers took alternative routes to service delivery including digital options and providing a telephony service to ensure support continued. Face to face delivery resumed for WHP participants as government Covid-19 guidance allowed and is now the primary method of delivery.

Provider context

There are key contextual differences to consider between providers and LGPs. Participants must earn above a fixed threshold to achieve a job outcome through any provider nationally or in an LGP area. However, the thresholds used by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and West London Alliance are greater than those used by other LGPs and by the national providers of the WHP. LGPs, as solely urban areas, have different demographics to CPAs. Therefore, the demographics of eligible cohorts may be different to those of the national CPAs. LGP services started about four months after the national CPAs.

Before the WHP extension, LGPs secured extra funding from the ESF to increase participant numbers, whilst national WHP providers did not. Actual job availability in different areas does not necessarily scale in line with the increase in participant numbers. As a result, comparisons between regions and providers should be made with great care and the contextual differences between CPAs and LGPs should be considered, for example there are differences between the outcome definitions used. More detail explaining these principles, their effects and other important contextual information may be found in our background information note.

Question 4

4.  Joining the Work and Health Programme

Accepted Answer

Since the start of the programme, across England and Wales, there have been a total of:

500,000 referrals
430,000 individuals referred
290,000 starts on the programme

Over the last year, figures for both starts and individuals referred have shown an overall rise despite notable monthly variation

Monthly number of individuals referred and starts, November 2017 to August 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Referrals to WHP - Individuals, and Starts to WHP.

Note: Both the individuals referred and starts measures above are calculated using the month in which referral or start was achieved so caution should be used in direct comparisons between both metrics.

The total number of monthly individual referrals and starts was on an upward trend from March 2018 (when the programme was available to all areas of the country). From April 2019 both the number of monthly individual referrals and starts were on a downwards trend, before the impact of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first UK-wide lockdown was seen in March 2020. They hit their lowest levels in April and May 2020 and rose to their respective all-time highs in June 2021 and March 2021. Since then, despite notable monthly variation, levels have remained below these peaks, however, over the last year figures have shown an overall increase.

Across the whole lifespan of the programme, the proportion of individuals referred that have started is 68%. There are several reasons why an individual may not have started on the programme. For those referrals that have happened more recently, this could be because of the time required to process a start or because participants have not yet attended their initial meeting with the provider. There is a strict, contractual Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 15 days for a participant to start on programme. However, for referrals that happened in the past, these participants may never go on to start. This could be because the participant found work before starting on the programme or have not worked with the provider to attend a welcome meeting within the 15-day SLA period.

Since the suspension of LTU referrals in November 2022, on average over three quarters of starts are within the Disability eligibility group

Starts by month the participant was referred and eligibility group, November 2017 to August 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Starts to WHP.

Of the number of individuals starting on the WHP since it began in November 2017 to October 2022; 188,000 were from the Disability group (77%), 29,000 were in the Early Access group (12%) and 27,000 were in the LTU group (11%). Since the extension of the programme and the suspension of LTU referrals, starting from 1st November 2022, 36,000 are from the Disability group (78%) and 10,000 are from the Early Access group (22%).

Since the programme began until June 2019, the proportion of starts was falling for the Disability eligibility group and rising for the LTU group. This trend reversed up until the impact of COVID-19 was seen on the programme, where most starts were in the Disability and Early Access groups.

Wales currently has the highest proportion of individuals referred who have started on the WHP

Proportion of all individuals referred who have started on the WHP broken down by area, November 2017 to August 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Referrals to WHP - Individuals and Starts to WHP.

For more information on the limitations of this chart, see our background information note.

The actual number of referrals and starts varies across areas due to size and when the service rolled out. To date, the highest proportion of individuals referred who have started is in Wales (76%) and the lowest is in West London (57%). Comparisons between regions and providers should be made with great care and the contextual differences between CPAs and LGPs should be considered.

Question 5

5.  First earnings from employment and job outcomes from the Work and Health Programme

Accepted Answer

31% of participants who started on the WHP achieved a job outcome within 24 months

The flow of participants referred to the WHP up to August 2021

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Referrals to WHP – Individuals, Starts to WHP, Employment First Earnings from WHP and Job Outcomes from WHP.

Of the 260,000 individuals who were referred to the WHP by August 2021 (the most recent point by which participants would have had the full 24 months on the programme), 69% started. Subsequently, of the individuals who started, 31% achieved a job outcome and 46% achieved first earnings from employment within 24 months. Please note, statistics on first earnings from employment do not include earnings from self-employment. Referrals after August 2021 are not included as participants have not had the full duration in which to achieve first earnings or a job outcome.

An overall decline in job outcomes has occurred since the all-time high in October 2021

Number of participants achieving first earnings from employment and job outcomes by month in which they occurred, November 2017 to August 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP)

Notes:

both the first earnings from employment and job outcome measures above are shown by the month in which they were achieved. Participants who have had both may appear at different points in the chart so caution should be used in direct monthly comparisons between both metrics
a seasonal effect is seen in the first earnings data, where the number of participants achieving first earnings from employment decrease during the winter months each year
first earnings from employment and job outcomes are not directly comparable as job outcome figures include those who are self-employed while the first earnings figures do not. Support to participants on the programme ends after 21 months and time to accumulate earnings to achieve a job outcome finishes at 24 months

Across the entire programme (November 2017 to August 2023), 76,000 participants have reached the job outcome earnings threshold or 6 months of being in self-employment. The highest number of job outcomes achieved in a single month was 2,500 in October 2021. Since then job outcomes gradually fell to 1,300 in February 2023 after which there has been an increase to 1,500 in August 2023, which is the most recent month available. Please note that cohorts that have not had the full duration for which to achieve a job outcome, i.e., those who started later than August 2021, are included in these figures to give an indication of all job outcomes that have been achieved to date. Participants starting on the programme more recently will have had less time to achieve a job outcome and may proceed to do so later.

The number of first earnings reached an all-time high in May 2021 and remained high until November 2021. After this point there have been two notable sharp declines in November 2021 and December 2022. As of August 2023, 120,000 participants have achieved first earnings from employment with 2,100 of these being achieved in the most recent month (August 2023).

The 12-month and 24-month measures for job outcomes and first earnings from employment reached a peak in January 2021

Percentage of starts resulting in first earnings from employment and job outcomes within 12 months (December 2017 to August 2022) and 24 months (December 2017 to August 2021) of starting, by starting month

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Starts to WHP and Employment First Earnings from WHP.

The percentage of participants achieving first earnings from employment and job outcomes within 12 and 24 months of starting on the programme had been on a slight decline since the programme began until the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020). For participants starting since April 2020, there was a rapid increase in the percentage achieving first earnings from employment and job outcomes for both time measures.

For first earnings from employment, the 12-month measure reached a peak of 53% in January 2021 and gradually declined until November 2021. Since then, the 12-month measure has stabilised. The 24-month measure reached a peak of 63% in January 2021 and has since declined towards pre-pandemic levels reaching 51% in August 2021 which is the most recent month available.

For job outcomes, the 12-month measure reached a peak of 32% in January 2021 and gradually declined until December 2021. Since then, job outcomes have stabilised around 21% and have risen to 24%. The 24-month measure reached a peak of 48% in January 2021 and continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Please note, for participants who have achieved first earnings from employment and/or a job outcome:

the 12-month measure includes participants who started between November 2017 to August 2022
the 24-month measure includes participants who started between November 2017 to August 2021. Whilst the 24-month measure is the key long-term measure, it is the least timely as we can only measure it for cohorts that started up to and including August 2021

Participants starting after August 2022 (12-month measure) and August 2021 (24-month measure) have not had the full duration in which to achieve first earnings or a job outcome and are therefore not included in each respective measure, due to the data being incomplete. This means a portion of participants counted in the 12-month measure will not be counted in the 24-month measure (those who started and received a job outcome between August 2021 and August 2022). For this reason, the two measures will include different cohorts of participants meaning they should be considered individually.

The 24-month measure now includes participants who may not have required the programme prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This should be seen in the context of the changing composition of the labour market because of the pandemic, with providers supporting participants to adapt to seeking employment in new industries, as well as the reopening hospitality sector. This is in addition to a cohort of participants who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic and may not have required the programme otherwise.

Within each time period, the Early Access group has the highest percentage of starts resulting in first earnings from employment and job outcomes

Percentage of starts resulting in first earnings from employment and job outcomes within 12 months (November 2017 to August 2022) and 24 months (November 2017 to August 2021) of starting, by eligibility group

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Starts to WHP and Employment First Earnings from WHP.

The percentage of starts achieving first earnings from employment and job outcomes increases for all eligibility groups as time on the programme increases. Within 12 months of starting on the programme to 24 months these figures rise for:

the Disability group, from 39% to 47% for first earnings from employment, and from 21% to 32% for job outcomes
the Early Access group, from 42% to 50% for first earnings from employment, and from 24% to 35% for job outcomes
the LTU group, from 27% to 33% for first earnings from employment, and from 12% to 19% for job outcomes

37% of participants who started in August 2021 achieved a job outcome

The percentage of all participants starting in each month that have proceeded to achieve a job outcome within 24 months by eligibility groups, December 2017 to August 2021

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Job Outcomes from WHP.

When considering the percentage of all participants starting that proceeded to achieve a job outcome within 24 months, the Disability eligibility group more than doubled following the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and May 2020) and continued to gradually rise in the following months, until September 2020. In the latest month (August 2021), 37% of all participants who started achieved a job outcome. This is composed of 30% in the disability group, 5% in the Early Access group, and 2% in the LTU group. Note: eligibility group percentages are calculated by taking the total number of job outcomes achieved in each month within each eligibility group and dividing this by the total number of starts in each month.

Of the total number of participants who had started in the Disability group between November 2017 and August 2021, 32% achieved a job outcome. In the same time frame, 35% of those who started in the Early Access group and 19% of those who started in the LTU group achieved a job outcome.

Any information that uses the start date of the participant is not given past August 2021 in this section as participants have not had the full 24-month period, after their start date, within which to reach the first earnings threshold or achieve a job outcome. Those who started up to and including August 2021 have been on the programme for longer and have received more support making job outcomes more likely.

Participants leave the programme by either:

achieving a job outcome
being on the programme for a full 21 months

Note: although support on the programme ends at 21 months the time to accumulate earnings to achieve a job outcome finishes at 24 months.

Data displayed to August 2023 relate to job outcome month rather than participant start date.

Question 6

6.  Demographics of the Work and Health Programme

Accepted Answer

Different job outcome rates seen for the various participant groups do not reflect the relative success of the programme for each group. There are many reasons why these can vary and, as a result, comparisons between job outcome rates of groups should be made with great care. See the background information note for more information.

The rate of job outcomes within 24 months of starting is highest for females in the Early Access group

Percentage of starts achieving job outcomes within 24 months for females and males, and by eligibility group, November 2017 to August 2021

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Starts to WHP and Job Outcomes from WHP.

Of the total number of starts to the programme, 60% are male and 40% are female. Overall, the rate of job outcomes achieved within 24 months of starting is similar (30% of males and 31% of females). In the Disability group, 32% of males and 33% of females have achieved a job outcome in 24 months. In the Early Access group, 33% of males and 37% of females have achieved a job outcome in 24 months. In the LTU group, 19% of males and 20% of females have achieved a job outcome in 24 months.

The highest proportion of job outcomes within 24 months of starting the programme are achieved by 18-24 year-olds, with Wales being the highest performing region

Percentage of starts achieving job outcomes within 24 months, by region and age group at the point of referral, November 2017 to August 2021

Source: Stat-Xplore, Work and Health Programme (WHP), Starts to WHP and Job Outcomes from WHP.

Across the age groups the percentage of participants who have started on the WHP and have achieved a job outcome within 24 months is lowest for the 60+ age group at 19% and increases as the age groups decrease, to a high of 41% for the 18 to 24 age group. Please note age is calculated at the point of referral.

The percentage of participants who have started on the WHP and have achieved a job outcome within 24 months varies by region and is lowest for Local London (Maximus) at 26% and highest for Wales (Maximus) at 36%.

Question 7

7.  Performance levels

Accepted Answer

Expectations

The expectations used in the WHP statistics are the expected number of job outcomes for the programme either as a whole, split by eligibility groups or split by providers. Users can interpret these as the number of job outcomes anticipated when the WHP was rolled out. These are based upon pre-programme expectations which were drawn up by DWP as the performance expectation for the programme when it was designed. When pre-extension referrals ceased at the end of October 2022 it was agreed subsequent cohorts would be assessed against a new contractual profile based upon, although not identical to, DWP’s pre-programme expectation.

Please note that all figures for this release use the pre-programme expectations. For more information on the background to these expectations and to understand how they were created, see our background information note.

Since June 2023, the Early Access eligibility group has had the highest performance against expectations

Actual job outcomes as a proportion of expected job outcomes, overall and for each eligibility group, by outcome month for September 2018 to August 2023

Source: WHP statistics data tables.

Note: the dashed orange line at 100% signifies where actual job outcomes equal the expected number of job outcomes. Additionally, since January 2021, LTU group outcomes have been below 100 for each month. These low numbers may mean small changes in volumes can result in notable changes in percentages.

Nationally, overall performance of actual job outcomes against expected job outcomes has fluctuated between 49% (September 2020) and 156% (October 2021) across the period September 2018 to August 2023. In the most recent month available (August 2023), the overall performance was 97%. This indicates that, across all cohorts combined, the actual number of job outcomes for August 2023 was 97% of the expected number of job outcomes for this month.

The three eligibility groups had performed similarly up to September 2020. This suggests that the WHP was achieving a similar proportion of expected outcomes for each eligibility group. From September 2020 to January 2021, the performance of the Disability and Early Access groups rapidly increased to meet expected performance levels. Another increase in performance levels of these groups was observed between June 2021 and the all-time high seen in October 2021. Since then, the overall performance of the Disability group has gradually returned to expected levels whilst the Early Access group now exceeds expected performance in recent months. The LTU group followed a similar trend from June 2021, rising to around or above expectations for most months between October 2021 and July 2022. Since then, there has been a large decrease in performance for the LTU group, dropping as low as 40% in August 2023, which is the most recent month available. In the most recent month, performance levels were at 96% for the Disability group and 109% for the Early Access group.

The expected number of job outcomes were defined before the COVID-19 pandemic began. They are calculated using a few measures including the number of starts to the programme and the proportion of these that are expected, in each time period, to achieve a job outcome. The reduction in performance in the affected months should be considered in this context. For more information see our background information note.

Overall, actual job outcomes as a proportion of expected job outcomes are highest in Wales, however, in the most recent 12 months (September 2022 – August 2023) this proportion is highest in West London

Job outcome performance against expectations, overall and for the latest 12 months, split by region (and provider)

Source: WHP statistics data tables.

Across all regions and providers, overall performance of actual job outcomes ranges between 79% (Local London, Maximus) and 110% (Wales, Maximus) of the expected number of outcomes, when summed across the period September 2018 to August 2023. In the last 12 months (between September 2022 and August 2023), the number of actual job outcomes ranges between 79% (Local London, Maximus) and 115% (West London Alliance, Shaw Trust) of the expected number of outcomes. Note that these figures include all participants who have started the programme to date. Those who have started more recently have not had as much time to achieve job outcomes and may still go on to do so.

Comparisons between regions and providers should be made with great care and the contextual differences between CPAs and LGPs should be considered.

Question 8

8.  About these statistics

Accepted Answer

This statistical summary gives an overview. Key points and trends are presented using charts and commentary. The information underlying the charts is available on Stat-Xplore and as supporting tables.

Rounding

Volumes and amounts have been rounded as detailed in the background information note. Percentages are calculated using numbers prior to disclosure controls and/or rounding, and are rounded to the nearest whole percentage point. For these reasons, some totals may not sum to 100.

Status

The statistics in this bulletin are classified as Official Statistics. The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 defines ‘Official Statistics’ as all those statistical outputs produced by the UK Statistics Authority’s executive office (the Office for National Statistics), by central Government departments and agencies, by the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and by other Crown bodies (over 200 bodies in total). The statistics in this bulletin are compliant with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The Code encourages and supports producers of statistics to maintain their independence and to ensure adequate resourcing for statistical production. It helps producers and users of statistics by setting out the necessary principles and practices to produce statistics that are trustworthy, high quality and of public value.

How can this data be used?

You can use this data:

for monitoring the overall flow of participants being referred to and starting on the WHP, those achieving first earnings and job outcomes
for monitoring the differences in demographics of programme participants for age group, eligibility group, area, and whether male or female

You cannot use this data:

for making simple comparisons between different demographic groups (age group, eligibility group, area, and whether male or female) in terms of the success of the programme

Changes, revisions and known issues

For this release, we have changed which data source we use to retrieve information for a participant’s age and whether a participant is male or female. The change in the data source has only affected these variables and has not impacted outcomes or other variables discussed in the release. This change was implemented to improve our processes and has led to a notable decrease in ‘unknown’ cases for both variables, compared with previous releases.

Where to find out more

Read the WHP background information note for more Information about the statistics.

The Work and Health Programme provider guidance is used by programme providers.

Information on the Work Programme, a programme which aimed to get unemployed people into sustained employment can be found in the collection of Work Programme statistics.

Information on Work Choice, a programme which aimed to help disabled people find, keep and progress in a job, can be found in the collection of Work Choice statistics.

Information on Specialist Employability Support, a voluntary programme which is aimed at helping disabled people with complex barriers that other support is not suitable for to find a job, can be found in the collection of Specialist Employability Support statistics.

Information on the Access to Work provision, which is aimed to support people who have a disability or long-term health condition start or stay in work, can be found in the collection of Access to Work statistics.

Users can also produce their own tables and access demographic breakdowns using Stat-Xplore.

Question 9

9.  Future plans and your feedback

Accepted Answer

Expected changes in future releases

As part of our planned ongoing development of the WHP Official Statistics, some changes may be made to the publication in future releases. We will pre-announce all major changes to users. In the next release, due on 29th February 2024, we are not making any major changes.

In September 2023, the Work and Health Programme was expanded to include a new element called WHP Pioneer. Pioneer is aimed at economically inactive customers who have a disability or who are in the Early Access group, in finding sustained work through a support model that has elements of a place and train type approach.

We are looking to include statistics on WHP Pioneer in future releases of this publication, once there is sufficient data.

Feedback and queries

Authors: Sophie Buckland, Daniel O’Hagan and Ewan Straiton

Lead Statistician: Tracy Hills

If you have any queries or feedback about existing WHP Official Statistics, or the changes proposed above, please email epass.team@dwp.gov.uk.

For media enquiries on these statistics, please contact the DWP press office.

DWP would like to hear your views on our statistical publications. If you use any of our statistics publications, we would be interested in hearing what you use them for and how well they meet your requirements. Please send your comments by email to: stats-consultation@dwp.gov.uk.

Users can also join the ‘Welfare and Benefit Statistics’ community at StatsUserNet. DWP announces items of interest to users via this forum, as well as replying to users’ questions.

ISBN: 978-1-78659-581-2