Minister for employment Chris Grayling has confirmed that official statistics on the Work Programme, including referrals data, will be published for the first time on 21 February 2012.

Grayling made the announcement this week in response to a question in parliament from shadow employment minister Stephen Timms.

He confirmed that Work Programme official statistics, including referrals data, would be published for the first time on 21 February 2012, with subsequent publications published quarterly.

Many in the charity sector have warned that the numbers of referrals going to voluntary sector organisations, sub-contracted onto the Work Programme, are not sufficient.

A recent survey from NCVO found that 58 per cent of Tier 1 Providers and 72 per cent of Tier 2 Providers were not at all satisfied with the current level of referrals.  

Elsewhere, Grayling also told Timms that the Department for Work and Pensions have commissioned a consortium led by the Institute for Employment Studies to undertake an independent evaluation of the Work Programme. The work will start in autumn 2011 and will conclude in 2014.