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13 July 2009 : Column 66W—continued

Jobcentre Plus: Manpower

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed at Jobcentre branches in each London borough in each of the last five years. [272832]

Jim Knight: 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.


13 July 2009 : Column 67W

Letter from Mel Groves:

Full-time equivalent
London borough March 2008 March 2009

Barking and Dagenham

118

130

Barnet

116

138

Bexley

111

114

Brent

186

197

Bromley

108

107

Camden

78

76

Croydon

177

198

Ealing

175

175

Enfield

172

178

Greenwich

167

175

Hackney

227

240

Hammersmith and Fulham

134

177

Haringey

161

167

Harrow

160

138

Havering

83

96

Hillingdon

98

100

Hounslow

98

89

Islington

225

223

Kensington and Chelsea

45

45

Kingston upon Thames

45

73

Lambeth

342

330

Lewisham

174

200

Merton

75

46

Newham

231

235

Redbridge

96

110

Richmond upon Thames

35

32

Southwark

205

189

Sutton

48

60

Tower Hamlets

173

170

Waltham Forest

170

181

Wandsworth

85

97

Westminster

128

138

Total

4,446

4,624

Note:
The table shows that in a small number of boroughs, staffing numbers reduced between March 2008 and March 2009. In Merton, where the biggest reduction took place, this was due to the closure of the Wimbledon office. In other cases, reductions were due to the retrenchment of clerical posts and staff and work will also have moved from one office to another, within the same Jobcentre Plus district but across borough boundaries.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus Dataview.

13 July 2009 : Column 68W

Jobcentre Plus: Official Hospitality

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much Jobcentre Plus has spent on hospitality and entertainment in each of the last five years. [276368]

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

Letter from Mel Groves:

£000

2003-04

(1)79

2004-05

28

2005-06

43

2006-07

106

2007-08

10

(1) Denotes an estimate based on analysis of expenditure for 2003-04.
Source:
DWP financial systems

Jobcentre Plus: Recruitment

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many vacancies for front-line staff in Jobcentre Plus have been advertised since 1 January 2009; how many have been filled (a) internally from within Jobcentre Plus, (b) from another Government Department or agency and (c) from elsewhere; and for each vacancy that has been filled, what the length of the contract was. [268022]

Jim Knight: 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 right hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Mel Groves:


13 July 2009 : Column 69W

Jobseeker's Allowance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what data her Department collects on the living costs of jobseeker's allowance claimants aged (a) 25 years old or more and (b) under 25 years old. [281601]

Jim Knight [holding answer 22 June 2009]: My Department does not collect data on the living costs of jobseeker's allowance claimants.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Employment

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her policy is on jobseeker's allowance claimants accepting offers of short-term casual employment; what guidance her Department issues to Jobcentre Plus staff on the provision of advice to claimants on this matter; and if she will make a statement. [284232]

Jim Knight [holding answer 3 July 2009]: The Government recognise that work is the best way out of poverty and actively encourages customers to take up employment; this includes part-time and casual work.

In order to incentivise the uptake of part-time and casual employment and to make it easier to move back on to benefit, Jobcentre Plus has introduced a rapid reclaim process. This means that where a customer returns to jobseeker's allowance within 26 weeks the claim process is shortened and the return to benefit is simpler and quicker.

Customers can also undertake part-time or casual employment and remain on jobseeker's allowance provided that they work for less than 16 hours per week. For those who work over 16 hours in a job where they expect that work to continue for at least four weeks, working tax credit may be available.

There is no specific guidance for Jobcentre Plus staff in respect of jobseeker's allowance benefit recipients wishing to do part-time or casual employment. However, advisers are fully aware of jobseeker's allowance regulations about part-time work and actively encourage those wishing to undertake part-time or casual work while still assisting them in finding full-time work.

Key Workers

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the most recent estimate is of the number of key workers in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) Staffordshire and (c) the West Midlands. [282486]

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her most recent estimate is of the number of key workers in (a) Merseyside and (b) Crosby constituency. [283184]


13 July 2009 : Column 70W

Jim Knight: The information is not available in the form requested as official employment statistics are collected using a standard occupational classification that does not directly match the categories commonly used to determine eligibility for existing local initiatives aimed at key workers.

Local Employment Partnerships

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 5 May 2009, Official Report, column 123W, on local employment partnerships, what the outturn costs of ( a) each of the local award ceremonies and (b) the grand final were. [286627]

Jim Knight: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave on 8 July 2009, Official Report, column 843W.

National Insurance: Fraud

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many national insurance (a) cards and (b) numbers were withdrawn for having been found to have been fraudulently obtained in each of the last five years; [281962]

(2) how many applications for a national insurance card or number were rejected owing to fraudulent documents being used in support of such applications in each of the last five years. [281988]

Jim Knight: The adult National Insurance number allocation process administered by Jobcentre Plus includes stringent verification of identity and right to work checks, which are designed to ensure that National Insurance numbers cannot be fraudulently obtained.

No National Insurance numbers or National Insurance number cards have been withdrawn in the last five years. However, in any case where there is suspicion that a National Insurance number is vulnerable to misuse, such as benefit fraud, the relevant National Insurance number record is annotated accordingly. Any subsequent claim using a National Insurance number would automatically be subjected to close scrutiny and, if appropriate, referred to the Departments Fraud Investigation Service.

The number of National Insurance number accounts marked over the last five years is shown in the following table.

Number of marked accounts

2004-05

1,087

2005-06

2,521

2006-07

2,965

2007-08

3,234

2008-09

1,470

Note:
Each year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
HMRC are responsible for the issue of National Insurance cards. Possession of a card does not provide proof of identity, right to work or proof of entitlement to benefits.
National Insurance cards only serve as a reminder to the individual of their National Insurance number and nothing else. National Insurance cards are not withdrawn.
Source:
Jobcentre Plus.

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