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Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place the reports of the mystery shoppers who have visited Jobcentre Plus centres in the Library; and if he will make a statement on the use of mystery shoppers by Jobcentre Plus. [102777]

Mr. Nicholas Brown [holding answer 13 March 2003]: The use of mystery shoppers in Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Acting Chief Executive, Clare Dodgson. She will write to the hon. member.

Letter from Clare Dodgson to Mr. Oliver Heald, dated 21 March 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the placing of mystery shopping reports in the Library, and the use of mystery shoppers by Jobcentre Plus. This falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of the Agency.

It may be helpful if I explain how the mystery shopping programme is used within Jobcentre Plus, and how our performance is currently reported internally and externally.

Mystery Shopping is a recognised process used in both public and private sector organisations, as a method of providing an independent measure of the service received by customers.

Within Jobcentre Plus we have a Customers' Charter based not only on the 6 Whitehall Service standards, but also after consultation with our customers, includes elements of service that are important to them. We use a mystery shopping programme to measure how well we deliver service against the standards and commitments we have set, and results are used by my managers to direct improvements in their performance.

The Jobcentre Plus programme is one of the biggest in the UK and all main parts of delivery are included. Each quarter every Jobcentre Plus location receives a number of different mystery shopping contacts. This means that nationally we produce in excess of 6,500 individual reports every quarter.

These reports are then aggregated into individual site performance summaries and District and national reports. In accordance with Jobcentre Plus overall performance reporting arrangements, we publish details of District results on the Jobcentre Plus website each quarter (www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk) and a copy of this has been placed in the Library. The individual office reports provide detailed feedback from the shoppers that managers will use to identify areas for improvement. The content of the questionnaires used in the mystery shopping programme are commercial in confidence and I am therefore unable to place copies in the House of Commons Library.

I would also like to reassure you that while we use the Mystery Shopping programme to measure service delivery against defined standards, we regularly review those standards and seek the views of our customers and other stakeholders.

We have just completed the first National Customer Satisfaction survey, which explicitly asks customers to comment on their level of satisfaction with the different elements of customer service. It also asks them to tell us what is important and

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where we are not meeting their expectations. We expect to be publishing the findings from this survey in the late spring and will use the information this gives us to focus our improvement efforts.

I hope this information is helpful.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will make a statement on the grounds for the decision by the London Region of Jobcentre Plus to reduce the number of staff working in its local office network; [101745]

(2) what assessment he has made of the impact on service delivery of the reduction by the London Region of Jobcentre Plus of staff working in its local office network. [101746]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, Clare Dodgson. She will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Clare Dodgson to Mr. John McDonnell, dated 21 March 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your questions concerning the reduction of staff numbers in Jobcentre Plus. This falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of the Agency.

The national roll-out of Jobcentre Plus is bringing together the old separate Jobcentres and Benefit Offices to form our new integrated offices, which will provide both services in one place. Staff movement between different roles is an ongoing feature of the development of this new service.

As part of our drive for efficiency and this modernisation of our services, Jobcentre Plus is reducing staffing levels in line with agreed workforce planning targets. This has included the migration of some staff to vacancies elsewhere within Departmental Agencies. It was clear, as part of these plans, that London Region would need to release the overwhelming majority of its temporary staff, approximately 5% of its workforce. Union officials have been kept informed of progress throughout the year.

The radical modernisation of our services as part of the Jobcentre Plus roll-out will inevitably lead to some disruption. However, we are managing these changes to minimise any negative impact on the delivery of our services to customers.

I hope this is helpful.

Ministerial Travel

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list internal flights made by Ministers in his Department in 2002, including in each case the (a) cost, (b) departure location and (c) destination; and of these how many were (i) first class, (ii) business class and (iii) economy class. [103590]

Mr. McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office in response to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W.

National Insurance

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps were taken in the 1970s to publicise the introduction of Home Responsibilities Protection with particular reference to its implications for those women with an election to pay married women's reduced rate national insurance contributions. [92155]

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Mr. McCartney: Because it was considered that some married women might wish to revoke their election to pay reduced rate contributions in order to benefit from Home Responsibilities Protection, a special insert was placed in child benefit order books to draw their attention to this. This was in addition to the information in leaflets and other media.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library copies of the literature and materials sent to (a) individual women, (b) employers and (c) placed in Social Security offices in connection with each of the large-scale publicity campaigns run by his Department in (i) 1977, (ii) 1989 and (iii) 2000 aimed at married women who had a valid election to pay national insurance contributions at the reduced rate; and if he will make a statement on the other methods his Department used to advertise the changes to the system in each of these years. [90623]

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.

The literature and material in respect of the pre-2000 publicity were placed in the Library of the House on 25 May 2000 and 20 January 2003 following a series of Parliamentary Questions in respect of this issue—Official Report, volume 350, column 584W and volume 398, column 86W.

I have today placed in the House Library, copies of the mailshot and press release issued in October 2000.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many letters were issued to married women who had a valid election to pay national insurance contributions at the reduced rate in each of the large-scale publicity campaigns run by his Department in (a) 1977, (b) 1989 and (c) 2000; and if he will list the criteria that were used to identify those women who were sent a letter. [90624]

Mr. McCartney: In 1977, no letters were issued to married women who had a valid election to pay National Insurance contributions at the reduced rate. Women were targeted via their employers, and flyers were enclosed with their payslips alerting them to the changes.

In 1989, the publicity campaign was aimed at some 400,000 women. They were sent letters to inform them that they could be better off paying standard rate National Insurance contributions because of the proposed change to the National Insurance structure. The criteria used to select these women were that their National Insurance account showed an open reduced rate election, they had paid reduced rate National Insurance contributions in the 1986–87 and/or 1987–88 tax years and that they were generally low earners in which case the standard rate contributions would be less than the reduced rate.

In 2000, nearly 253,000 letters were issued. These women were identified by scanning the National Insurance Record System computer. All those who had a valid election to pay the reduced rate were sent a letter.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer (a) questions 90623, 90624 tabled on 9 January and 95041 tabled on 28 January, on

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married women's pensions, (b) questions 91289, 91290, 91291 and 91292, on automated credit transfer, tabled on 13 January, (c) question 91293, on post office card accounts, tabled on 13 January, (d) question 92155, on Home Responsibilities Protection, tabled on 16 January and (e) question 95275, on the implication of the abolition of the half-test on married women, tabled on 29 January. [104656]

Malcolm Wicks: Replies have been given to the hon. Member.

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