Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department’s press release Hancock: Every young person should be earning or learning from April 2017, published 17 August 2015, (a) what the evidential basis is for the effectiveness of each of the proposals of the Earn or Learn taskforce referred to in that press notice; (b) what he plans the criteria for referral to the three-week programme referred to in that press notice to be; (c) by what measures the success of that programme will be assessed; (d) when he plans for contracts for that programme to be put out to tender; (e) if he will launch a consultation on the design of such contracts; (f) what additional funding he plans to make available for skills training for programme participants lacking basic qualifications; (g) how much his Department has set aside to fund that programme; and (h) whether he plans for funding for skills training to be ring-fenced within the overall grant made to providers.

Priti Patel

The Youth Obligationfor 18-21 year olds includes a 3 week intensive activity programme at the start of the claim to Universal Credit. The detailed policy design is still under development.

All spending decisions on skills training for 2016-17 and beyond will be taken as part of the Spending Review, which is due to be concluded in November.