Between April 2012 and May 2013 there have been 2,230 work experience and 550 sector based academy starts in Birmingham. We do not have a breakdown of the number of Wage Incentive payments, or Apprentice Grant to Employers made in Birmingham since the launch of the Youth Contract. A regional breakdown of the number of Wage Incentive payments will be included in the next set of Official Statistics.

There are no forward projections on how many Wage Incentives, Apprenticeship Grants to Employers or work experience placements will be created in Birmingham up to 2015.

Youth unemployment is at a similar level now to when the coalition took office, having risen by nearly 250,000 in the two years leading up to the 2010 general election.

There have been periods of both rising and falling youth unemployment since 2010 but recent figures have been encouraging, with the number of unemployed

16 to 24-year-olds (excluding those who are full-time students) down 37,000 in the year to April to June 2013, to 676,000. The number of young people claiming jobseeker's allowance also fell by 72,100 in the year to July 2013, to 381,300.

Although improving, youth unemployment remains too high. That is why we have modernised our services by giving Jobcentre Plus advisers access to a comprehensive menu of help tailored to support the individual at the most appropriate point in their claim.

We introduced the Youth Contract which will provide nearly half a million new opportunities for young people—including wage incentives, incentives to take on apprentices, and extra work experience placements. Extra funding is being made available to support the most vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment or training into learning, an apprenticeship or job with training.

Young people also have access to the Work programme which provides tailored support for those claimants furthest from the labour market. Young claimants are referred to a provider after 9 months of seeking work and those with more challenging barriers to work can be referred at three months. Providers are paid on the results they achieve, and are paid more for supporting the harder to help into work.

There is scope for providers to design a programme that meets the core aims and elements of traineeships but also fits with benefit rules. This would enable young people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance (or the new universal credit) to continue to receive financial support while taking part in a traineeship. To enable this, colleges and providers are encouraged to work with Jobcentre Plus when designing their programmes.

Claimants will continue to be paid jobseeker's allowance/universal credit at their benefit rate, and to maintain benefit entitlement will be subject to all existing conditionality such as actively seeking and available for employment. They will also continue to attend regular face-to-face Jobcentre Plus adviser interviews for the duration of their traineeship.

Work programme statistical information is available for the period 1 June 2011 to 31 March 2013. In the Birmingham, Hall Green constituency in that period 410 people found work lasting for more than six months; 140 of these were aged 18 to 24 and 40 were registered disabled.

The available information is given in the following tables:

Traineeships do not change the full-time study rule in jobseeker's allowance. The programme however will be flexible enough to enable training providers and employers to meet the requirements of young people who are claiming benefits. Those who are designing traineeships with the intention of offering places to benefits claimants are encouraged to consult Jobcentre Plus, to ensure a suitable fit with the benefits system whilst also meeting the needs of the local labour market.

Jobseekers participating on a traineeship will continue to be paid jobseeker's allowance at their benefit rate. For the duration of their traineeship, they will be subject to all existing conditionality such as actively seeking work, being available for employment and attending regular face-to-face Job-centre adviser interviews.

Traineeships aim to help an intermediate group of jobseekers develop the skills and attitudes employers look for to enable them to move into sustainable employment. Young People who already possess employability skills or have high levels of attainment are likely to be successful in finding work or an apprenticeship without the extra support a traineeship provides. Young people who need more intensive help before they can successfully engage with the labour market are supported through the Youth Contract, the Work programme and wider training provision.

Statistics on how many people between 16 and 25-years-old in (a) Sheffield and (b) each Sheffield parliamentary constituency have been claiming jobseeker's allowance or have been unemployed for two years or more in each month since May 2010, from the claimant count, can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/default.asp

Guidance for users can be found at:

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/home/newuser.asp

There is scope for providers to design a programme that meets the core aims and elements of traineeships but also fits with benefit rules. This would enable young people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance (or the new universal credit) to continue to receive financial support while taking part in a traineeship. Colleges and providers are encouraged to work with Jobcentre Plus when designing their programmes.

Claimants will continue to be paid jobseeker's allowance/universal credit at their benefit rate, and be subject to all existing conditionality such as actively seeking and available for employment. They will also continue to attend regular face-to-face Jobcentre Plus adviser interviews for the duration of their traineeship.

Data on work experience and sector-based work academies are published as part of the regular Official Statistics available on:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/pre-work-programme-and-get-britain-working#publications#

The statistics that first covered the introduction of Youth Contract were published in August 2012.

On 24 June the Department announced that the first set of experimental statistics on wage incentive payments will be published on 22 July. The Department has been working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.

The Department continues to take action to maximise take-up of wage incentives within the Youth Contract. We have extended the eligibility of the wage incentive so that it is now available to all 18 to 24-year-olds reaching six months on benefit.

Jobcentre Plus continues to focus on marketing the wage incentive to employers, including local events to bring employers and young people together. We are promoting the sharing of our good practice with Work programme providers, who also market the wage incentive locally.

Wage incentives continue to be marketed nationally to all employers, particularly by working with trade organisations who encourage their members to get involved. All eligible claimants are advised to include the wage incentive on their CV and are given self-marketing cards to give to prospective employers.

We are engaging with Work programme providers to address barriers and drive up performance through clarifying guidance and streamlining the end to end process.

On 1 February 2013 the Department for Work and Pensions published an independent evaluation of the Wage Incentive Scheme. The evaluation included a survey of employers. The report can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-evaluation-of-the-youth-contract-wage-incentive-scheme-rr828

The information requested is not available.

Statistics on how many people gained a job outcome under the Work programme in each month from 1 June 2011 to 31 July 2012 can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/series/dwp-statistics-tabulation-tool#benefit-caseloads

Statistics covering Work programme referrals, attachments and job outcomes to March 2013 are being published on 27 June 2013.

The first set of figures for the number of wage incentive payments being made to employers through the Youth Contract will be published on 22 July 2013.

Jobcentres and Work programme providers distribute claim forms to employers when an eligible young person starts in an eligible job and it is clear the wage incentive influenced the decision to hire. When employers claim the funding they must agree to the terms and conditions of the scheme which stipulate they would not have been in a position to hire the young person without the incentive.

The Youth Contract consists of 250,000 opportunities over three years from April 2013. We are working closely with local Jobcentre Plus offices to fill these opportunities.

There have been no recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), on the effect of schools careers service on levels of youth unemployment.

Departmental officials continue to work closely with the Department for Education in setting up a strategy to improving opportunities for young people, so they can succeed in education and training and gain the skills they need to secure employment or gain an apprenticeship. The strategy sets out how radical reforms to schools, vocational education, skills and welfare provision will all make a significant difference to young people's opportunities and support.

In addition to this, I continue to meet with the Minister of Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), to work on ways to reduce youth unemployment.

We published an official statistics ad-hoc release on 5 June 2013 which reports progress on starts and outcomes on the Innovation Fund Pilot. The release can be found at:

http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/youth_unemploy_if_pilot.pdf