Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to today’s Work Programme statistics, said:

“These new figures show David Cameron’s flagship Work Programme is still failing. It’s astonishing that people who use the Work Programme are more likely to return to Jobcentre Plus than find work, while just one in six have got a long term job and less than five per cent of those claiming a disability benefit have found work.

"Labour would introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee, funded by repeating the tax on bank bonuses, and limiting pension tax relief for the very highest earners.

"This would guarantee real paid work for young people unemployed for at least a year and for all adults unemployed for at least two years. This is work they would have to take or lose their benefits.”