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<p>Claimants who are interested in participating in the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA)
are referred by their work coach to a provider so that they can explore the self-employment
options. Participation is voluntary.</p><p> </p><p>The take up of the NEA is closely
linked to the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, which begun to drop
in 2013 – 2014. It is also worth noting that during 2013 the Department ran a high
profile marketing campaign to promote the NEA, using posters & leaflets in jobcentres,
YouTube videos, Webinars etc. which may also have influenced take up of the scheme
in that year.</p><p> </p><p>The table below shows how many starts there were with
a business mentor in each financial year.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>NEA
mentor starts by financial year (<sup>1</sup>)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number
<sup>(2,3)</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2011 - March 2012</p></td><td><p>15,170</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April
2012 - March 2013</p></td><td><p>31,880</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2013 - March
2014</p></td><td><p>47,800</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2014 - March 2015</p></td><td><p>39,830</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April
2015 - September 2015 (six months)</p></td><td><p>18,200</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>(1) Data Source - DWP LMS opportunities evaluation database October 2015 for
all quarters, DWP PRaP database October 2015 for Jan-Sept 2015.</p><p>(2) Figures
are rounded to the nearest 10.</p><p>(3) It is possible that an individual may start
to work with a mentor more than once and therefore appear more than once in these
figures.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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