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26 Jun 2006 : Column 58W—continued
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what total headcount reductions in Jobcentre Plus staff are expected as a result of the Efficiencies Savings Programme, broken down by job title; how many personal advisers there are; and how many personal advisers there were when the agency was established. [77243]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 13 June 2006]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what total headcount reductions in Jobcentre Plus staff are expected as a result of the Efficiencies Savings Programme, broken down by Job Title; how many personal advisers there are; and how many personal advisers there were when the agency was established. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The efficiency challenge is measured against the baseline position at 1 March 2004. The table below shows the position at 1 March 2004 and the planned position at 31 March 2008. Figures are Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and comply with the Office of National Statistics definitions.
| Total (FTE) | |
Information on reductions broken down by job title is not available.
The earliest data we hold on the number of Personal Advisors working in Jobcentre Plus are for April 2003. The table below shows the number of Personal Advisers at April 2003, and at March 2006. This is the latest information available.
| Total personal advisers (FTE) | |
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people who successfully secured a job directly through using the Job Centre Plus website in each year since its creation. [73921]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking if he will estimate the number of people who have successfully secured a job directly through using the Job Centre Plus website in each year since its creation. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk is our Internet service for jobseekers and is currently the United Kingdom's number one recruitment site. The website provides job hunting advice, information on programmes, such as New Deal, and allows users to search our extensive database of some 400,000 vacancies.
The website provides a self-service job search facility that does not require users to register personal details. Therefore, whilst we know how many visits the website receives, information on the number of people who have found jobs using the website is not available.
In 2004, the Jobcentre Plus website received 27,219,880 visits (this figure excludes figures for August because of a problem with the statistics package). This increased to 41,325,452 the following year (2005). The number of visits in the 5 months between 1 January and 31 May 2006 stands at 30,484,516. Figures are not available for 2001-03.
I hope this is helpful.
Jobseekers Allowance
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the main causes for delay in applications for Jobseeker's Allowance were in the last month for which information is available; how many
delays fell into each main category; and if he will make a statement. [67628]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 26 June 2006:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the main causes for delay in applications for Jobseeker's Allowance were in the last month for which information is available; how many delays fell into each main category; and if he will make a statement. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Plus is transforming the service it provides by making it available via the telephone, via the internet and through the personal service offered to people in Jobcentre Plus offices. We are also committed to implementing a major efficiency programme to deliver headcount savings.
The precise nature and extent of the issues which can cause delay varies between locations and stage of roll-out, and as some of these issues are inter-related and overlap, it is not possible to provide the specific information requested. However, we have put action in hand to address the delays, including the launch of a National Action Plan on 30 January. Senior operational managers provided a formal assurance at the end of February that they were complying with all elements of the National Action Plan.
We have also undertaken the considerable task of moving a large number of staff into new posts in our contact centres, and delivering the training necessary to operate the new processes.
The chief operating officer is monitoring performance very closely and is addressing performance variations in benefit clearance times in specific locations and the actions required to clear backlogs. It should be acknowledged that concentrating on backlogs of work may initially cause average clearance times to rise. In order to focus management attention on this issue, the actual average clearance times measure of 12 days for Jobseeker's Allowance claims, has been added to the suite of Jobcentre Plus Targets for 2006-07
I hope this is helpful
Liability Orders
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many liability orders under Section 33 of the Child Support Act 1991 and Child Support Regulations 1992 have been sought (a) in the UK, (b) within Hertfordshire and (c) within St. Albans in each year since 1995; and how many of these were successful. [78401]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Hilary Reynolds, dated 26 June 2006:
In reply to your recent parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As he is currently out of the country, I am responding on his behalf.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many liability orders under Section 33 of the Child Support Act 1991 and Child Support Regulations 1992 have been sought (a) in the UK (b) within Hertfordshire and (c) within St. Albans in each year since 1995; and how many of these were successful.
Information about the total number of liability order applications and those successfully granted is only available from
the period since March 1998. Due to the format in which this information is gathered it is not possible to provide details at the requested county or town level. Therefore information has only been provided at UK level.
| Liability orders applied for | Liability orders granted | |
During 2003 a full review of enforcement activity within the Child Support Agency was undertaken. The recommendations which were implemented started to show a marked improvement in performance during 2004-05 and particularly last year 2005-06.
I hope you find this response helpful.
Newcastle Jobcentre Plus Action Team
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the budget for the Newcastle Jobcentre Plus Action Team is for 2006-07; what the budget was in each of the last two years; which programmes the team supported in 2005-06 and 2006-07; and what geographical areas each programme covered. [75219]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Action Teams aim to engage communities, mainly through outreach, and find individual solutions for both employers and clients.
The Newcastle Action Team covers the Newcastle city area and has supported a number of local programmes. Some examples of these programmes are: Sure Start; Newcastle City Council Work Finders; Job Educational Training and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); Mental Health Matters; the Prison Service; Disability North; and Connexions.
Details of the allocated budget for the Newcastle Action Team are in the table.
| Allocated budget (£) | |
The funding for 2006-07 is less than for previous years as the Action Team programme is due to finish at the end of September 2006. Many of the practices and ideas developed by Action Teams have been integrated into Jobcentre Plus mainstream programmes and services. Examples include outreach work in local communities and the greater discretionary funding that is available to advisers.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to question 42540 tabled by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds on 11 January 2006, on telephone helplines. [71699]
Mrs. McGuire: I replied to the hon. Member on 16 June 2006, Official Report, columns 1480-81W.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to question (a) (i) 64505, (ii) 64521, (iii) 64507, (iv) 64504, (v) 64520, (vi) 64519 and (vii) 64508 on pension credit, (b) (i) 64500 and (ii) 64495 on sickness absence, (c) (i) 64498 and (ii) 64499 on rehabilitation services and (d) 64501 on benefit helplines tabled by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds on 12 January. [71726]
Mrs. McGuire: Replies have been given to the hon. Member for all of the questions as follows:
64495 on 11 May 2006, Official Report, column 497W
64504 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1003W
64505 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1003W
64507 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1004W
64508 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, column 1003W
64520 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1004-05W
64521 on 17 May 2006, Official Report, columns 1003-04W
64498 on 24 May 2006, Official Report, column 1803W
64499 on 24 May 2006, Official Report, column 1803W
64519 on 7 June 2006, Official Report, column 1488W
64501 on 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 914W
64500 on 16 June 2006, Official Report, column1476W
Pension Credit
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioner households are receiving pension credit in each ward in (a) Westminster and (b) Kensington and Chelsea; and what the average payment is in each ward. [78815]
James Purnell: The information requested is in the following tables.
| Pension credit household recipients and average weekly amount of benefit for wards in Westminster, November 2005 | ||
| Ward name | Household recipients | Average weekly benefit (£) |
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