Less than a fifth of the almost half a million people who have started on the Restart scheme have achieved sustained employment of six months or more

First statistics publication for the programme also show that just a quarter of participants who have had the full 12 months of support from scheme providers have achieved a job outcome

New DWP statistics published today show that less than a fifth of the almost half a million people who have started the Restart programme have achieved sustained employment of six months or more.

Launched in June 2021 with the aim of providing up to 12 months of support to people who are long-term unemployed to help them return to work, the Restart scheme was established in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with £2.9 billion of funding announced in November 2020. However, this cost estimate was reduced to around £1.7 billion following the DWP's reassessment of expected demand for the programme to be around 0.7 million people, far lower than original projections.

Key figures included in this official statistics release for the period to April 2023 include that –

  • 530,000 individuals have been referred to the programme since its launch, with 450,000 of these having started on the programme;
  • 150,000 of these participants have achieved first earnings from employment since starting;
  • 84,000 participants have subsequently achieved a job outcome – defined as when a participant, since starting on the scheme, reaches either cumulative earnings exceeding the equivalent of working 16 hours per week for 26 weeks at the National Living Wage or a minimum of six months of gainful self- employment – matching the contractual performance expected on the providers of the programme at this stage;
  • 230,000 people had had the opportunity of 12 months of support on the programme by April 2023 – of these, 42 per cent had achieved first earnings from employment, while 25 per cent had achieved a job outcome – this is against a contractual minimum performance level (MPL) expectation of 15 per cent and a general contractual tender performance level (TPL) of 20 per cent; and
  • of the 450,000 starts on the scheme, 57 per cent were recorded as male and 43 per cent recorded as female; while 10 per cent were aged between 18 and 24, 63 per cent aged between 25 and 49, and 27 per cent aged 50 or more.

The statistics also highlight that job outcomes peaked early on in the programme as shown in the graph, with job outcomes exceeding tender performance level expectations by 225 per cent in October 2021 but falling to 74 per cent in April 2023 –


NB – the DWP advises that as some cohorts of starts on the programme have not had the full amount of time in which job outcomes may be achieved, job outcome rates may continue to increase 'as each cohort matures'.

For more information, see Restart Scheme statistics to April 2023 from gov.uk