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20 Apr 2009 : Column 124W—continued
The pay scales for Advisory services managers are those for HEO/Band D and are as follows:
| Pay scales for advisory services managers | ||||
| £ | ||||
| National | Inner London | Outer London | Specified locations | |
| Note: Specified locations pay zones are those where recruitment difficulties historically have led to an increase in local salary scales. Generally these apply across much of the South East, outside the London pay zones. | ||||
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many personal advisers were employed in jobcentres in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency in each of the last five years. [263791]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many personal advisers were employed in jobcentres in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency in each of the last 5 years. This is something that falls within my responsibilities as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The information is in the following table:
| Number of personal a dvisers employed in j obcentres in Copeland and Cumbria in the last five years | ||
| Year ending: | Copeland | Cumbria |
| Notes: 1. The Copeland area includes Jobcentres in Cleator Moor and Whitehaven. 2. Process changes between 2004-05 and the following years mean that this data is not comparable with later years. Source: Jobcentre Plus | ||
We are closely managing our capacity to respond to the rising business volumes we are experiencing. The number of Personal Advisers in Cumbria will therefore be increasing in the coming months. Our planning for this increase is yet to be finalised and I know that Steve Johnson, District Manager for Jobcentre Plus in Cumbria and Lancashire, would be happy to discuss this with you at the meeting you have scheduled with him on 5 June.
Jobcentre Plus: Pay
Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the salary cost was of (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) agency staff employed in (i) benefit delivery centres, (ii) customer-facing jobcentres and (iii) contact centres operated by Jobcentre Plus in each (A) region and (B) Jobcentre
Plus district (1) in each year since 2002 and (2) in each of the last 24 months. [264263]
Mr. McNulty: The available information has been placed in the Library.
Jobcentre Plus: Sick Leave
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of levels of sickness absence attributable to work-related stress of staff in jobcentres in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency in the last period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such levels of absence on the delivery of jobcentre services. [263794]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking what assessment has been made of levels of sickness absence attributable to work-related stress in jobcentres in Cumbria and Copeland constituencies, and what assessment he has made of the effect of such levels of absence on the delivery of jobcentre services. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Jobcentre Pus do not collect absence data specific to work related stress, as the causes of stress are complex and difficult to attribute to a single cause. We do, however, collect detailed data on the causes of sickness absence, including absences attributed to mental health problems, and through close monitoring are able to identify problem areas.
Jobcentre Plus is very aware of the negative impact of sickness absence on customer service and is committed to improving performance in this area. Indeed, our strategies are delivering considerable success, with the latest data confirming the improving trend we have seen over the last 12 months. We remain committed to securing further improvements.
Stress management and prevention are fundamental aspects of this approach, and we have a number of tools to support managers and staff achieve these objectives. These include risk assessment policies, developed by our psychologists, in consultation with the Health and Safety Executive, to identify working practices that might create pressure and to address stress experienced by individual employees regardless of the cause. These are supplemented by comprehensive lifestyle guidance for all staff on how to reduce personal stress levels.
Stress prevention is integral to wellbeing products available to all staff. For example, our people have 24-hour access to professional stress counsellors and to debt/legal advice free of charge. We also help managers to support their staff by providing them with access to medical advice provided by occupational health doctors and nurses.
In addition, we are embarking upon a major health and wellbeing programme across all of our sites. The programme provides staff with a wealth of information and guidance to support healthier lifestyles, gives them access to a confidential on-line health and wellbeing assessment and delivers targeted solutions to support the individual. The programme also provides managers at our Jobcentres with comprehensive information about the potential health risks to their staff, ensuring specific preventative action is taken to address the issues.
Jobcentre Plus: Standards
Andrew Selous:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the latest customer satisfaction levels are for Jobcentre Plus customers;
how those levels were measured; and if he will make a statement; [262960]
(2) what the latest satisfaction levels were for social fund customers who have received crisis loans, budgeting loans or community care grants; how those levels were measured; and if he will make a statement. [262961]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 12 March 2009]: 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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking what the latest customer satisfaction levels are for Jobcentre Plus customers; how those levels were measured; and what the latest satisfaction levels were for social fund customers who have received crisis loans budgeting loans or community care grants; and how those levels were measured. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The most recent Jobcentre Plus Customer Satisfaction Survey took place in 2007 and found that 80 per cent. of customers were satisfied with the standard of service provided by Jobcentre Plus. Customers on Income Support were the most satisfied (84 per cent.), followed by Incapacity Benefit customers (80 per cent.) and Jobseeker's Allowance customers (74 per cent.).
The Survey was conducted by telephone between June and August 2007 with over 4,000 Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support and Incapacity Benefit customers, although alternative completion methods were available to customers. The Survey was carried out independently by the Policy Research Institute of Leeds Metropolitan University. The next Jobcentre Plus Customer Satisfaction Survey is planned to be conducted in Summer 2009.
To measure customer satisfaction, customers were asked how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with all of the services provided by Jobcentre Plus. Satisfaction was measured as the percentage of customers who said they were either fairly or very satisfied with the services provided.
Jobcentre Plus does not measure customer satisfaction levels separately for Social Fund customers who have received Crisis Loans, Budgeting Loans or Community Care Grants. Customers who claim Social Fund may have been interviewed as part of the 2007 Jobcentre Plus Customer Satisfaction Survey, but their responses cannot be disaggregated.
Jobcentre Plus has a Customer Service Target which measures how well the business delivers its services to customers against a set of standards. Although the Customer Service Target does not measure customer satisfaction, it does reflect the three main ways in which Jobcentre Plus customers access Jobcentre Plus services—in person, by telephone and electronically. The overall national target is to achieve an overall 86 per cent. rating for standards of:
timeliness;
professionalism; and
information accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Performance on the Customer Service Target for the current year to date is 85.8 per cent.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1995W, on jobseeker's allowance, how many claimants were paid UK contribution-based jobseeker's allowance by the Employment Service in each EU member state in each of the last five years; and how much was spent on such payments to claimants in each EU member state. [254175]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many and what percentage of claimants of jobseeker's allowance have been excused from meeting jobseeker's allowance rules in each month of the last two years for which information is available; [261014]
(2) how many and what percentage of claimants of jobseeker's allowance have been excused from meeting jobseeker's allowance rules in each month of the last two years for which information is available; [261018]
(3) how many and what percentage of claimants of jobseeker's allowance have been excused from meeting jobseeker's allowance rules in each year since 1997 for which information is available. [261019]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available. There is no policy in place which allows jobseekers to be excused from meeting jobseeker's allowance rules although different rules can apply in different circumstances.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who began to claim jobseeker’s allowance in each month between October 2005 and September 2008 claimed for a period of (a) less than three months and (b) between three and six months. [262571]
Mr. McNulty: Figures are available broken down by quarter. The available information is in the table.
| Number of jobseeker’s allowance claimants by each quarter, by duration of claim | ||||
| Unknown duration | 0 to3 months | 3 to 6 months | Over 6 months | |
| n/a = Not available Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures for November 2007 are not available due to jobseeker’s allowance data for that quarter not being received by IFD. 3. Figures for August 2008 will be revised when the new quarter’s data are released. 4. Data shown are quarterly due to the frequency of the 5 per cent. data. 5. Caution should exercised when looking at the August 2008 quarter as this maybe deficient due to a proportion of claims being received late. The best statistics on benefits are now derived from 100 per cent. data sources. However, the 5 per cent. sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100 per cent. data sources. Figures are subject to a high degree of sampling error and should only be used as a guide. Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate (IFD), 5 per cent. sample. | ||||
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