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20 Jun 2007 : Column 1864W—continued
Housing Benefit: Harrow
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether claimants will be able to opt-out of voice risk analysis when making a claim for housing benefit or council tax benefit to Harrow council. [140596]
Mr. Plaskitt: Voice stress analysis is not currently being used to risk assess new claims to housing benefit and council tax benefit at Harrow council. It is being used in phone calls relating to changes of circumstances. All callers are made aware of this at the start of the call and then have the option of whether or not to continue the call.
Incapacity Benefit: Wimbledon
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of incapacity benefit there are in Wimbledon. [143135]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer 15 June 2007]: At November 2006 there were 1,730 claimants of incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance in the Wimbledon parliamentary constituency.
Jobcentre Plus: Chard
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the levels of deprivation in the wards served by the Job Centre in Chard, Somerset. [143619]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Information on levels of poverty is not available below the level of Government Office Region.
Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone calls to Jobcentre Plus contact centres were (a) engaged and (b) lost (i) across the call centre network and (ii) to each call centre in each of the last 12 months. [140395]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answer 4 June 2007]: 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 Mel Groves, dated 20 June 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many telephone calls to Jobcentre Plus Contact Centres were engaged and lost across the call centre network and to each call centre in each of the last 12 months. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Lesley Strathie as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. I am replying on her behalf as Acting Chief Executive.
When a customer calls a Jobcentre Plus Contact Centre, they are placed into a queue either until the call is answered or they choose to abandon the call. Customers do not get an engaged tone.
We collate data by the type of service the customer calls and each Contact Centre deals with one or a mixture of the following services:
First Contact: for customers making a new or repeat claim to benefit.
Jobseeker Direct: for jobseeker to enquire about and place applications for advertised vacancies.
Employer Direct: for employers to post vacancies using our facilities.
National Benefit Fraud Hotline: for anyone to report alleged benefit theft.
NINO: for anyone wishing to apply for a National Insurance Number.
The national statistics across these service lines for the 12 months ending April 2007 are set out in the attached tables. Copies of which have been placed in the House of Commons library.
These figures are against 2006/07 targets of 90% of calls answered for First Contact and Jobseeker Direct. The target for calls answered for Employer Direct, National Benefit Fraud Hotline and NINO was 95%.
I Hope this is helpful.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of new deal claimants returned to jobseeker’s allowance (a) between six months and 12 months and (b) after 12 months after leaving the programme in each year since 1998. [140588]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table.
| New deal, returners to jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) | |||||
| Returned to JSA between six and 12 months from date of leaving new deal | Returned to JSA more than 12 months from date of leaving new deal | ||||
| Number of leavers | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Notes 1. Information is based on all leavers from all new deal programmes who were claiming JSA when they started the programme. 2. The number and percentage of people returning to JSA more than 12 months after leaving new deal is based on latest available JSA data to November 2006. As more up-to-date JSA data becomes available, numbers are likely to rise. 3. If a person has two separate JSA periods, one between six and 12 months after leaving new deal, and one more than 12 months after leaving new deal, only the JSA period between six and 12 months is included in the table. 4. Latest complete year data is for 2005. Source: Information Directorate, DWP. | |||||
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2007, Official Report, column 809W, (1) on jobseeker’s allowance, what proportion of jobseeker’s allowance claims were processed in (a) one to 21 working days and (b) more than 22 working days in (i) each of the last five years and (ii) each of the last 24 months; [143133]
(2) on incapacity benefit, what proportion of incapacity benefit claims were processed in (a) one to
21 working days, (b) more than 22 working days, (c) more than 41 working days and (d) one to 40 working days in (i) each of the last five years and (ii) each of the last 24 months. [143136]
Mr. Jim Murphy [holding answers 15 June 2007]: 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 Mel Groves, dated 19 June 2007:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the proportion of Jobseeker’s Allowance claims processed in one to 21 working days and more than 22 working days in each of the last five years and each of the last 24 months, and the proportion of Incapacity Benefit claims processed in one to 21 working days, more than 22 working days, more than 41 working days and one to 40 working days in each of the last five years and each of the last 24 months. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Lesley Strathie as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. I am replying on her behalf as Acting Chief Executive.
The information is not available in the format requested. The information that is available is contained in the following tables.
| Jobseeker’s allowance, percentage of claims processed from April 2006 to May2007 | ||
| Percentage of jobseeker’s allowance claims processed in: | ||
| One to 21 days | 22 days and over | |
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