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6 May 2003 : Column 550W—continued

Invalid Care Allowance

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for invalid care allowance he has received in each of the last 24 months; and how many of these have been (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful, broken down by applicants (i) over and (ii) under state pension age; and if he will make a statement. [110179]

Maria Eagle: The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table.

Carer's Allowance (CA)⁽¹⁾: numbers of claims received and decided in Great Britain, and their outcome, in each quarter⁽²⁾ from April 2001

		Claims Received(3)		Claims Decided
Quarter to end of				Successful(3)		Unsuccessful(4)
June 2001(5)		37,765		32,205	11,775
	Over StatePension age	Under StatePension age	Over StatePension age	Under StatePension age
September 2001	3,160	31,820	1,595	28,560	11,965
December 2001	2,525	29,510	1,405	26,110	11,415
March 2002	2,930	32,615	1,655	28,910	12,120
June 2002	3,090	32,640	1,535	26,725	(6)—>
September 2002	5,485	33,510	5,260	29,685	12,530
December 2002	(7)15,695	31,505	(7)13,990	29,490	12,515

Notes:

⁽¹⁾ Invalid care allowance (ICA) was renamed carer's allowance (CA) on 1 April 2003.

⁽²⁾ Figures are not available on a monthly basis. The figures given in the table are for the end of each quarter and are rounded to the nearest 5.

⁽³⁾ Figures for 'claims received' refer to numbers of people making claims, as input to CACS in that quarter. Figures for 'successful' claims refer to numbers of awards of entitlement, including cases where payment is not made because of the operation of the overlapping benefits regulations (although people in these circumstances may qualify for the carer premium in the income-related benefits). The date of input of a successful claim may fall in a later quarter than that in which the claim was received or from which entitlement to the allowance started.

⁽⁴⁾ A person may make more than one claim and have more than one award, and these may be input on the CACS in different quarters. Therefore, the difference between the figures for the numbers of people from whom a claim is received and the figures for the numbers of awards in successful claims will not equate to the figures for the numbers of unsuccessful claims.

⁽⁵⁾ Separate figures for people over and under pension age are not available for the quarter to the end of June 2001.

⁽⁶⁾ Reliable data is not available for 'unsuccessful' claims for the quarter to the end of June 2002.

⁽⁷⁾ State Pension age is age 60 for women and age 65 for men. The upper age limit, which precluded claims to CA by people aged 65 and over, was removed on 28 October 2002.

Source:

100 per cent data from the CA Computer System (CACS) supplied by Information

Analysis Division.

6 May 2003 : Column 551W

Job Vacancies

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what work has been completed since 1997 on redefining the ratio between the number of job centre vacancies and the total number of vacancies in the economy, and the extent to which this ratio varies in different areas across the country. [110685]

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Frank Field, dated 6 May 2003:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on what work has been completed since 1997 on redefining the ratio between the number of Jobcentre vacancies and the total number of vacancies in the economy and the extent to which this ratio varies in different areas across the country. I am replying in his absence. (110685)

Direct comparisons between Jobcentre vacancies and estimated totals of vacancies in the economy are not presently possible, as the numbers of unfilled vacancies at Jobcentres have not been published since April 2001. This is because of distortions to the data which occurred as a result of the introduction of the 'Employer Direct' initiative by Jobcentre Plus which altered the method of dealing with notified vacancies. Nevertheless, the ratio between the Jobcentre vacancies and the number of vacancies in the economy has been investigated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of an assessment last year of estimates of the total number of vacancies from a new survey of job vacancies now being published monthly on an experimental basis. The assessment included a review of information available from previous occasional surveys conducted on behalf of Jobcentre Plus.

Details of the ONS survey and the assessment were published in an article 'A new survey of job vacancies' in the October 2002 issue of Labour Market Trends (pages 535 to 548). On the basis of the pilot of a question on notified vacancies included in the survey, this concluded that the proportion of all vacancies notified to Jobcentres, as reported by employers, was likely to be in the range of around a third to around a half. There is no information currently available on the extent to which the proportion varies in different parts of the country.

Jobcentre Plus

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account is taken, when decisions are made to close or reduce services at JobCentre Plus offices, of views of (a) customers of the office concerned and (b) the wider community; how those views are ascertained; what account is taken of public transport availability to the proposed alternative; what is considered to be a reasonable (i) travel time and (ii) travel cost to be met by the customer referred to a different office of JobCentre Plus; and if he will make a statement. [108235]

Mr. Nicholas Brown [holding answer 9 April 2003]: 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.

6 May 2003 : Column 552W

Letter from Clare Dodgson to Andrew Dismore, dated April 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning how we take the views of our customers into account when decisions are made to change our services, and what consideration we give to accessibility by public transport. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of the Agency.

In creating a network of about 1000 sites we are increasing the access and availability of our services to people who use only ex-Benefits Agency sites, and reducing the need for other customers to visit both a Jobcentre and a social security office. Our current arrangements for undertaking home visits and permitting certain individuals to sign by post still apply.

The introduction of advanced telephony and modern IT. equipment is enabling us to provide new ways of accessing our services. To make a claim for a Jobcentre Plus benefit the customer contacts us on a local rate phone number. Personal details are taken, forms are posted out and an appointment with a Personal Adviser is arranged. Providing access to job vacancies by telephone and the Internet also enables customers to access our services at a time and from a location of their choice.

Jobcentre Plus District Managers have many criteria to consider when they are planning the location of sites and the delivery of services in their areas. In particular they consider the availability of public transport, travel time and cost. The availability and cost of public transport varies widely across the country, so it is not possible to be prescriptive. Planning for the implementation of Jobcentre Plus is a local process designed to meet the needs of local communities, with decisions best being made by local managers. This means that many different and specific factors can be considered at that level.

With regard to travel time, we have asked District Managers to ensure that, as far as possible, customers will not have to travel for an unreasonable amount of time as a result of closing an existing office. Careful account is taken of population size and spread, where people are located, and many other factors, to ensure that we agree the best location for our new offices.

In our early planning for each JobCentre Plus district we are sharing our proposals for service delivery with a wide variety of people and organisations. While these are determined by local management they will include, for example, local MP's, Local Authorities, service delivery partners, employers' representatives, Citizens Advice Bureaux, welfare rights organisations, other Government Agencies, Health Authorities, Housing Associations, our staff and trade union representatives. After views and comments have been taken on board District Managers then share the finally agreed plans with the people and groups described above.

We do survey our customers to find out their opinions of the service that we provide. This information is used to improve that service. It is not however practical or possible to consult all our customers and potential customers about major changes to our service, including possible office closures.

For districts introducing the new service in 2002/03 the main communications exercises took place between June and September, and we were pleased to receivecomments and views on many aspects of our plans. We have taken account of those views, changed our plans where appropriate and responded to those who contacted us.

I hope this is helpful.

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will make a statement on the recent dismissal of 600 employees from local jobcentres and social security offices in London; [105479]

(2) what the basis is upon which the headcount target of staff working in jobcentres and social security offices in London has been calculated. [105480]

6 May 2003 : Column 553W

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 April 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the reduction of staff numbers in Jobcentre Plus, London Region. 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.

Jobcentre Plus is contributing to the wider DWP modernisation and efficiency agenda and the workforce planning levels agreed for Jobcentre Plus in London form part of this. The allocation of resource budgets within Jobcentre Plus is linked to expected workloads and performance targets. Each Region, including London, has a share of the total Jobcentre Plus performance target. The headcount target for London region, like all regions, is based on this.

Between April 2002 and February 2003, Jobcentre Plus London region reduced its permanent staffing by 668 in line with workforce efficiency plans. This was achieved through a combination of staff moving to The Pension Service, other parts of the Department for Work and Pensions, other Government Departments or through natural wastage. In reaching the reduction in staffing figures, no permanent members of staff were dismissed or made redundant.

A number of meetings, at both Regional and District level, have taken place with union representatives since last summer about this matter. These meetings have also been supplemented by ongoing correspondence. Headcount target figures were shared with PCS Regional colleagues in September and a discussion on measures required to manage towards those workforce numbers took place at a meeting on 25 September 2002. More recently, a meeting took place in January 2003 and was followed up by detailed letters, with a further meeting taking place in February 2003.

In managing our target headcount level in London 350 temporary staff were released prior to the end of the 2002/03 operational year. Where operational needs were identified, 250 temporary staff were retained in London Region Jobcentres and Social Security Offices after 31 March 2003.

The radical modernisation of our services as part of the Jobcentre Plus rollout 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.

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