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17 Dec 2003 : Column 980W—continued

Jobcentre Plus Premises

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will list the (a) number, (b) location and (c) size of Jobcentre Plus premises due to be disposed of; and what (i) costs and (ii) savings he expects from the disposal over the life of the disposal contract; [141198]

(2) if he will place the terms of reference of the external benchmarking exercise carried out on the disposal of Jobcentre Plus premises in the Library. [142183]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to my hon. Friend.

17 Dec 2003 : Column 981W

Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 15 December 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the disposal of Jobcentre Plus premises. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

17 Dec 2003 : Column 982W

Rollout of the Jobcentre Plus service across the country is a four year programme, planned for completion in March 2006. We are not yet halfway through the implementation of the Jobcentre Plus service and detailed information on disposals for the whole programme is not yet available. However from the information currently available I can tell you that so far we have disposed of 48 sites, totalling 30,548 square metres and a saving to Jobcentre Plus of £6,249,418 per annum. Those sites are listed in the table:

Region	District	Address	Metres(27)	Total saving per annum (£)
East of England	Hertford	Hitchin Crown House	175	22,581
East of England	Suffolk	Sudbury PCO The Old bakery King St	81	57,205
East of England	Suffolk	Bury St Edmonds The Cornhill	647	171,007
East of England	Suffolk	Ipswich Jobshop Museum Street	86	12,892
East Midlands	Greater Nottingham	Carlton Rd Jobshop	744	0
East Midlands	Leicestershire	Leicester 90 Highcross Street	851	27,079
London	Brent	Burnt Oak 93–95 Burnt Oak Broadway	325	62,968
London	Brent	Cricklewood Broadway	1634	356,217
London	Central London	Holbom JC Celco House 289/293 High Holborn	503	116,344
London	NE London	Stoke Newington	919	311,036
London	NE London	Leyton Grosvenor Park	723	64,617
North East	Newcastle	Roxborough House Whitley Bay PCO	76	36,564
North West	East Lancs	Barnoldswick PCO	62	26,775
North West	Salford & Traff	Washington House Salford	204	41,228
Scotland	Dumfries	Annan High Street	107	6,470
Scotland	Fife	St Andrews CSP 43 South Street	88	44,586
Scotland	Lanarkshire	Larkhall 27 Union Street	118	15,485
South East	Hampshire	Havant 33 East Street	790	125,703
South East	Hampshire	Romsey 3–4 Duke Mill Centre	118	21,264
South East	Hampshire	Eastlight 42/50 High Street	250	32,138
South West	Cornwall	Isles of Scilly Caller Off Buzza St	41	14,980
South West	Devon	Barnstable 4 Maxham Court	90	6,155
South West	Dorset	Bournemouth Garage 9	14	3,284
South West	Gloucestershire	Coleford JC Lords Hill	134	7,401
South West	Somerset	Frome North Parade PCO	264	56,746
South West	Somerset	Street The Cross	423	23,369
South West	West of Eng	Bristol Hartcliff Symes Avenue	56	5,493
Wales	Nth West Wales	Pwllheli Penlan Street	26	24,555
Wales	Nth West Wales	Swansea Ystradgnynlais PCO	41	16,373
Wales	Swansea Bay	Pontardawe 25 High Street PCO	17	11,028
Wales	West Wales	Neyland 36 High Street	30	2,679
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Mold St Davids Lane	65	2,401
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Llandudno Chapel Street	53	1,988
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Brecon Canal Bank	80	3,944
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Denbigh PCO	61	30,776
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Shotton PCO	76	25,804
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Holywell PCO	63	31,283
Wales	Wrexham & NW	Llangollen PCO	15	6,831
West Midlands	Coventry	Kenilworth 7 Abbey Court	135	23,763
West Midlands	Coventry	Coventry Park Court	1455	188,343
West Midlands	Shropshire	Ludlow Jobcentre	168	8,920
Yorkshire & the Humber	Sheffield	Sheffield Rockingham Court	2221	480,470
Yorkshire & the Humber	Sheffield	Sheffield Peel House 1 West Bar	1461	245,442
North West	Liverpool	58 Brackfield Road South, Liverpool 6	2559	486,725
North West	Lancashire West	Maxford House Blackpool	3271	1,041,420
North East	Tees Valley	Tees Building	3142	561,777
West Midlands	Birmingham & Solihull	2140 Coventry Road, Sheldon, Birmingham B26 3JQ	3041	684,273
East of England	Norfolk	Baltic House, Mountergate, Norwich	3045	701,037

Strategic, high-level planning has been undertaken for the remaining two years of the programme, 2004–2006, but I am not yet able to provide firm details of premises disposals or surrenders due for that period. Similarly, information on costs and savings from future disposals is unavailable.
We have not carried out an external benchmarking exercise on the disposal of Jobcentre Plus premises. Because of the diversity of the districts, service delivery planning for Jobcentre Plus is a locally-driven activity. In undertaking such exercises local managers have to take account of a wide range of factors relevant to the local community before any changes are made to the premises available to them.
I hope this is helpful.

Jobseeker's Allowance Appeals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to centralise (a) jobseeker's allowance and (b) labour market appeals; and what the implications of the plans are for (i) appellants and (ii) staff. [142983]

Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

17 Dec 2003 : Column 983W

Letter from David Anderson to Dr. Jones, dated 17 December 2003:

As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply direct to your question on what plans he has to centralise (a) Jobseekers Allowance and (b) Labour Market Appeals; and what the implications of the plans are for (i) appellants and (ii) staff. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

Jobcentre Plus was formed in 2002 from the Working Age elements of the former Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. Since that time, the organisation has undergone an unprecedented rollout programme, bringing together both parts of the formerly separate operations.

An internal review recommended that appeals would be delivered more efficiently through teams of appeals staff covering all Jobcentre Plus benefits, and also for appeals teams to be organised on a district basis and accountable to the District Manager. This work is now underway and is being led by the Deputy field Director of East of England, supported by district, regional and national tiers throughout Jobcentre Plus.

Improvements to Jobcentre Plus decision making and appeals processes are to be further supplemented following recommendations from the recent National Audit Office report "Getting It Right, Putting It Right—Improving Decision Making and Appeals In Social Security Benefits". It was their view that the centralisation of appeals work, reconsiderations and complex decision making, would achieve financial savings for the organisation and lead to improved standards, better communications and better customer service.

Pressures on staff to achieve demanding targets will be relieved as more resource is freed when these plans are implemented. Centralisation and a more defined management, training apd communications structure will also lead to improved skills of and support to those staff employed to process complex decisions, handle reconsiderations and write appeals. This will provide a better service for Jobcentre Plus customers.

I hope this is helpful.

Pension Credit

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the number of pensioners who are not receiving pension credit but are receiving housing benefit and council tax benefit. [144701]

Mr. Pond: Our latest estimate for the number of pensioner households who are not receiving Pension Credit but are receiving Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit is around £900,000.

Households claiming Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit may be a single person, a couple or a family. More than one benefit household can live in one property, for example two or more adults in a flat or house share arrangement.

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for West Derbyshire (Mr. McLoughlin) of 9 December 2003, Official Report, columns 416–17W, on Pension Credit, how many pensioner households in each Government Office region he estimates are eligible for Pension Credit. [144702]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of pensioner households eligible for Pension Credit at the end of November 2003 by region is set out in the following table.

17 Dec 2003 : Column 984W

Government office region	Estimated number of households eligible for Pension Credit
North East	250,000
North West and Merseyside	500,000
Yorkshire and Humber	350,000
East Midlands	300,000
West Midlands	350,000
Eastern	300,000
London	450,000
South East	350,000
South West	300,000
Wales	250,000
Scotland	400,000
Total (GB)	3,800,000

Notes:

1. Estimates are done on a benefit unit basis (single pensioner or pensioner couple).

2. Figures do not include care home cases.

3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 50,000.

Source:

Policy simulation model 2003–04, based on data from the Family Resources Survey 2000–01.

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