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Jobcentre Plus: Pay

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average salary of personal advisers in Jobcentre Plus has been in each year since the role was created, broken down by (a) region and (b) sex. [230286]

Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the average salary of personal advisers in Jobcentre Plus has been in each year since the role was created, broken down by (a) region and (b) sex. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

The requested information is not available prior to April 2003. Information since April 2003, broken down by gender, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The table below provides the average staff costs of personal advisers for each financial year from 2003-04, broken down by region.

Average staff costs of personal advisers by region
£000
	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
East of England	24	24	25	27	30	31
East Midlands	22	24	25	26	29	29
London	25	27	28	30	31	32
North East	22	23	25	27	28	29
North West	19	22	24	26	28	29
Scotland	21	23	25	27	29	30
South East	25	25	26	28	30	31
South West	21	23	25	27	28	30
Wales	20	24	25	27	28	30
West Midlands	22	23	26	27	28	28
Yorkshire & Humber	21	23	25	27	28	28
Total	22	24	26	27	29	30
Notes: 1. The average staff costs for 2008-09 are based on the first six months of the year (April to September 2008). 2. The staff costs are the costs incurred by Jobcentre Plus in employing the staff and include superannuation and employer related NI contributions. The average staff costs shown will therefore be higher than the average salary that individuals actually received. 3. The adviser numbers used in calculating the average are the full-time equivalents (FTEs) and not an actual count of advisers i.e. one FTE could be one full-time adviser or two or more part-time advisers. Source: Jobcentre Plus Activity Based Management (ABM) database for 2006-07 to 2008-09 and the Activity Based Information database (ABI) for prior years 2005-06 to 2003-04. Data prior to this year is unavailable. 4. The costs used in the calculation of the average staff costs are apportioned costs, not actual costs i.e. if the actual salaries for the advisers were added up they would produce a different figure. The costs used are derived from the percentage of FTE carrying out the adviser role at an office level i.e. if 10 per cent. of staff are advisers in a particular office then 10 per cent. of the total salary for that office would be classified as adviser costs. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average salary was for Jobcentre Plus employees in each year since 1 April 2002, broken down by (a) region and (b) sex. [230287]

Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the average salary was for Jobcentre Plus employees in each year since 1 April 2002, broken down by (a) region and (b)
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sex. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

Whilst we do have average staff cost information for the whole of Jobcentre Plus the information is not readily available by region or sex. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The table below provides the average staff cost for Jobcentre Plus for each year since 1 April 2002.

Average staff cost for Jobcentre Plus employees
£000
Financial year	Average staff costs
2002-03	20
2003-04	21
2004-05	23
2005-06	26
2006-07	26
2007-08	27
Notes: 1. The staff costs are the costs incurred by Jobcentre Plus in employing the staff and include superannuation and earnings related NI contributions. The average staff costs shown will therefore be higher than the average salary that individuals actually received. 2. The employee numbers used in calculating the average are the full-time equivalents (FTEs) and not an actual count of employees, i.e. 1 FTE could be one full-time member of staff or two or more part-time members. 3. Staff costs are rounded to the nearest thousand. Source: Jobcentre Plus Statutory Accounts for 2002-03 through to 2007-08.

Jobcentre Plus: Standards

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what national performance targets have been set for Jobcentre Plus offices; and what the performance of Jobcentre Plus Torquay was against these targets in 2007-08. [237948]

Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what national performance targets have been set for Jobcentre Plus offices; and what the performance of Jobcentre Plus Torquay was against these targets in 2007-08. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

The table below details the targets set for Jobcentre Plus Devon and Cornwall District for the performance year April 2007 to March 2008. Torquay Jobcentre is one of the offices within this district. Some of these targets are set and measured at district/regional or national level only. However, where possible I have included details specific to Torquay Jobcentre.

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Torquay Jobcentre Plus performance summary
Target name	Measured at level	Target	Performance
Job outcome target	District	288,645	275,464
Monetary value of fraud and error (Percentage)	National	5	4.9
Customer service (Percentage)	Torquay Jobcentre	84	96.3
Employer outcome target (Percentage)	District	84	87.6
Interventions delivery target Incapacity benefit work focused interviews (Percentage)	Torquay Jobcentre	80	89.9
Interventions delivery target Income support—lone parents (Percentage)	Torquay Jobcentre	85	87
Interventions delivery target Jobseeker's allowance advisory interviews (Percentage)	Torquay Jobcentre	85	100
Interventions delivery Jobseeker's allowance labour market interventions Interventions	Torquay Jobcentre	90	96.4
Average actual clearance time—incapacity benefit (days)	Plymouth Benefit Delivery Centre	18	9.4
Average actual clearance time—income support (days)	Plymouth Benefit Delivery Centre	11	10
Average actual clearance time—jobseeker's allowance (days)	Plymouth Benefit Delivery Centre	12	10
Notes: 1. Job outcome target To achieve a total score of 288,645 points based on the job outcomes Devon and Cornwall achieves via the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) database. 2. Monetary value of fraud and error target (MVFE) By March 2008 to continue to ensure that losses from fraud and error in working age income support and jobseeker's allowance amount to less than current levels of loss, as expressed in the new 2005-06 baseline. 3. Customer service target To achieve an 84 per cent. customer service level in the delivery of specified standards across our business delivery channels. Our customer service is measured under three headings: Professionalism, Timeliness and Information. 4. Employer outcome target At least 84 per cent. of employers placing their vacancies with Jobcentre Plus will have a positive outcome based on the employer's opinion of the service received. Floor target—performance should not fall below 82 per cent. in any delivery unit. 5. Interventions delivery target To ensure that specified key Jobcentre Plus labour market interventions take place within set timescales in 85 per cent. of cases measured. Floor target—performance should not fall below 83 per cent. The four components of this target and their individual target levels are: 80 per cent. of initial incapacity benefit work focused interviews are conducted after the end of the 8th week and up to the end of the 13th week stage of the claim. 85 per cent. of income support lone parent work focused interview reviews that become due are conducted within three months. Jobseeker's allowance labour market interventions (LMI) and follow-up activity are conducted in 90 per cent. of cases. 13 and 26-week jobseeker's allowance advisory interviews that become due are conducted within six weeks in 85 per cent. of cases. 6. Average actual clearance time target To process claims to certain benefits within the specified average actual clearance time (AACT): for incapacity benefit (18 days), income support (11 days) and jobseeker's allowance (12 days). Plymouth Benefit Delivery Centre processes claims from clients serviced by Torquay Jobcentre.

Jobcentre Plus: Torbay

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many clients used Jobcentre Plus services at Torquay jobcentre between (a) 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007 and (b) 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2008. [237941]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available.

Jobcentre Plus: Wales

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the service made available by the Jobcentre Plus rapid response service for Wales; and what steps he takes to ensure service provision reflects local rates of unemployment. [238555]

Mr. McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

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Letter from Mel Groves:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what assessment has been made of the adequacy of the service made available by the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service for Wales and what steps are taken to ensure service provision reflects local rates of unemployment. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

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