Work and Health Programme statistics to February 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 predominantly to help people who are disabled, as well as the long-term unemployed or those in the Early Access group to enter into and stay in work. It is available to the following 3 eligibility groups:

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 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 (LGP), 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 & 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 1st 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 February 2023, 380,000 individuals have been referred to the programme with 260,000 having started on the programme
of the number of participants who started on the programme between November 2017 and February 2021, 29% achieved a job outcome and 44% achieved first earnings from employment within 24 months
in the last 3 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 (157%) to levels consistent with pre-pandemic performance; 102% (December 2022), 97% (January 2023) and 83% (February 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. When a provider acknowledges the referral and contact has been established with the participant, this is called a referral. WHP participants can be referred more than once. 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 and agrees to participate. 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 February 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.

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:

450,000 referrals
380,000 individuals referred
260,000 starts on the programme

In the latest month, the number of individuals referred exceeds the pre-pandemic peak

Monthly number of individuals referred and starts, November 2017 to February 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 March 2021 and June 2021.

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 February 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 are from the Disability group (77%), 29,000 are in the Early Access group (12%) and 27,000 are in the LTU group (11%). Since the extension of the programme, starting from 1st November 2022, 13,300 were from the Disability group (77%) and 3,900 were from the Early Access group (23%).

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

Distribution of all WHP individual referred and starts across areas, November 2017 to February 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 vary 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

29% of participants who started on the WHP achieved a job outcome within 24 months

The flow of participants referred to the WHP up to February 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 210,000 individuals who were referred to the WHP by February 2021, 71% started. Subsequently, of the individuals who started, 29% achieved a job outcome and 44% 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 February 2021 are not included as participants have not had the full duration in which to achieve first earnings or a job outcome.

In the latest month, the number of participants achieving first earnings and job outcomes is now below the pre-pandemic high

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

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

Note:

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

The number of first earnings and job outcomes have increased to levels higher than those seen before the pandemic. The number of job outcomes increased sharply to an all-time high in October 2021. Since then, job outcomes have been declining and for the first time fell below the pre-pandemic peak. Of the total number of participants who started between November 2017 and February 2023, 68,000 participants have reached the job outcome earnings threshold or 6 months of being in self-employment with 1,300 of these being achieved in the most recent month (February 2023). Please note that participants starting on the programme more recently will have not had long enough 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 appeared stable until November 2021. After this point there have been two notable sharp declines in November 2021 and December 2022 with a period of general stability in between. As of February 2023, 110,000 participants have achieved first earnings from employment with 1,700 of these being achieved in the most recent month (February 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 February 2022) and 24 months (December 2017 to February 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. Figures now fall below the pre-pandemic high. The 24-month measure reached a peak of 63% in January 2021 and continues to exceed pre-pandemic levels.

For job outcomes, the 12-month measure reached a peak of 32% in January 2021 and continued to gradually decline until December 2021. Since then, the 12-month measure has gradually begun to increase. 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 February 2022
the 24-month measure includes participants who started between November 2017 to February 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 February 2021

Participants starting after February 2022 (12-month measure) and February 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 February 2021 and February 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 February 2022) and 24 months (November 2017 to February 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 45% for first earnings from employment, and from 21% to 30% for job outcomes
the Early Access group, from 41% to 48% for first earnings from employment, and from 23% to 32% for job outcomes
the LTU group, from 27% to 32% for first earnings from employment, and from 12% to 18% for job outcomes

47% of participants who started in February 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 February 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. Since then, there has been a period of stabilisation and has fluctuated between 37% and 39%. Over the last quarter, a small decrease was observed in the Early Access group, whilst no change was seen in the LTU group, following the notable decrease between May and June 2020.

Of the total number of participants who had started in the Disability Group between November 2017 and February 2021, 30% achieved a job outcome. For the Early Access Group, 32% of those that started achieved a job outcome and for the LTU Group, 18% of those that started achieved a job outcome.

Figures after February 2021 are not presented in section 5, as participants have not had the full 24-month period within which to reach the first earnings threshold or achieve a job outcome. Those who started up to and including February 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.

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.

Whilst more males start on the WHP, the rate of job outcomes achieved within 24 months by both males and females is comparable within eligibility groups

Percentage of starts achieving job outcomes within 24 months for females and males, and by eligibility group, November 2017 to February 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, 59% are male, 40% are female and the remaining 1% are unknown. The rate of job outcomes achieved within 24 months of starting by both groups is similar (28% of males and 29% of females). Outcomes by males and females are similar across the eligibility groups. In the Disability group, 30% of males and females have achieved a job outcome in 24 months. In the Early Access group, 32% of males and 33% of females have achieved a job outcome in 24 months. In the LTU group, 18% of males and 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 to 24 year-olds, with Wales being the highest performing region

Percentage of starts achieving job outcomes within 24 months, by region and age group, November 2017 to February 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 17% and increases as the age groups decrease, to a high of 39% for the 18 to 24 age group.

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 24% and highest for Wales (Maximus) at 35%.

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.

In February 2023, the Early Access eligibility group had the best 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 February 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.

Nationally, overall performance of actual job outcomes against expected job outcomes has fluctuated between 49% (September 2020) and 157% (October 2021) across the period September 2018 to February 2023. In the most recent month available (February 2023), the overall performance was 83%. This indicates that, across all cohorts combined, the actual number of job outcomes for February 2023 was 83% 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, overall performance levels of the Disability and Early Access groups are gradually returning to expected levels. The LTU group followed a similar trend from June 2021. In the most recent month, performance levels were at 84% for the Disability group, 86% for the Early Access Group and 59% for the LTU 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 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 78% (Local London, Maximus) and 110% (Wales, Maximus) of the expected number of outcomes, when summed across the period September 2018 to February 2023. In the last 12 months (between March 2022 and February 2023), the number of actual job outcomes ranges between 85% (Local London, Maximus) and 121% (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

Work and Health Programme statistics are official statistics that are experimental. They are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in their development and as a means to build in quality at an early stage. All Official Statistics should comply with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics which promotes the production and dissemination of official statistics that inform decision making.

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 gender, age group, eligibility group and area

You cannot use this data:

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

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 31 August 2023, we are not making any major changes.

Feedback and queries

Authors: Daniel O’Hagan, Ewan Straiton and Luke Stockham

Lead Statistician: Tracy Hills

If you have any queries or feedback about existing WHP Official Statistics, or the changes proposed above, please email the EPASS Team.

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: 978-1-78659-511-9