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20 July 2009 : Column 843W—continued
Jobcentre Plus: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the rate of (a) absence and (b) absence resulting from injury at work was among Jobcentre Plus employees in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each of the last five years; what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of such absences; and if she will make a statement. [283886]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the rate of (a) absence and (b) absence resulting from injury at work was among Jobcentre Plus employees in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each of the last five years; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of these absences. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The system we use to monitor sick absence is a relatively new system so I am only able to provide data from May 2007 to June 2009. I have therefore detailed below the average working days lost per member of staff in Jobcentre Plus in Essex between June 2007 and May 2008, and between June 2008 and May 2009 along with the associated financial cost. I am unable to provide you with details for Castle Point as we do not record them for this area specifically.
| Average work days lost to sickness (in days) | Total cost of sickness days lost (£) | |
The level of sickness absence data that Jobcentre Plus collects does not allow us to identify specific work related injuries as the cause of sickness absence.
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 16 months. We remain committed to securing further improvements.
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. It 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 staff, ensuring specific preventative action is taken to address the issues.
My District Manager for Essex, Neil Brettell, will be happy to talk to you further if you have any further questions. He can be contacted on 01245 214242, by post at Government Buildings, Beeches Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 2RT or by email at Neil.Brettell@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobs have been advertised at customer-facing Jobcentre Plus units in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point in each of the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [283887]
Jim Knight: All Jobcentre Plus offices have access to all vacancies advertised by Jobcentre Plus. Each office has jobpoints that allow jobseekers to search for jobs by various criteria including location. Therefore jobseekers using the Jobcentre Plus offices in Essex and Castle Point will be able to access the same vacancies as would a jobseeker in any other part of the country.
The number of vacancies advertised for Essex and the Castle Point constituency in the latest 12 months for which data are available are shown in the following table.
| Number of notified vacancies | Number of live unfilled vacancies | |||
| Essex | Castle point | Essex | Castle point | |
| Notes: 1. Interpretation of these data need to take account of changes in recent years to Jobcentre Plus procedures for taking and handling vacancies. These figures are not fully comparable over time and may not indicate developments in the labour market. A more detailed explanation is available on the nomis website. 2. Notified vacancies include any speculative placings recorded by Jobcentre Plus. Datasets from May 2006 may reflect substantially reduced levels of speculative placings as part of the notified series. Consequently, care should be taken in interpreting time-series data. 3. The stocks of unfilled vacancies reflect more accurately job opportunities available via Jobcentre Plus. In the case of unfilled vacancies, use of the figures on live vacancies is recommended (that is, excluding suspended vacancies), and this is the default option. Live vacancies may still include some vacancies which have already been filled or are otherwise no longer open to recruits, due to natural time lags in procedures for following up vacancies with employers. 4. Data are unrounded. 5. Comprehensive estimates of all job vacancies (not just those notified to Jobcentre Plus) have been available from the monthly ONS Vacancy Survey since April 2001, based on a sample of some 6,000 enterprises. However, the ONS survey is currently designed to provide national estimates only. Source: Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System. | ||||
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether free at the point of use telephones are available to Jobcentre Plus customers in each jobcentre in Essex. [286356]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking whether free at the point of use telephones are available to Jobcentre Plus customers in each Jobcentre in Essex. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
We have Customer Access Telephones in all our Jobcentres in Essex. These telephones are free for our customers to access a range of services. They are primarily used to make enquires about benefit claims and other services offered by us. They can also be used to contact employers and other agencies that can help customers find work. On request we can also make other telephones available, at no cost, for customers to telephone prospective employers or make other relevant calls.
Jobcentre Plus: Finance
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much and what proportion of its annual budget Jobcentre Plus plans to spend on (a) staff and (b) Jobcentre Plus programmes in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. [278232]
Jim Knight [holding answer 8 June 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 right hon. Member with the information requested.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question asking how much and what proportion of its annual budget Jobcentre Plus plans to spend on (a) staff and (b) Jobcentre Plus programmes in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The available information is provided below.
Employment programme budgets are not held by Jobcentre Plus but are controlled centrally by DWP.
| Jobcentre Plus administration budget | |
| £ million | |
| Source: DWP Three Year Business Plan | |
Based on our indicative plans for 2009/10, our best estimate is that approximately 70 per cent of the Jobcentre Plus administration budget will be spent on staff costs. The remaining 30 per cent will be spent on other non staff related costs. Detailed planning for 2010/11 has not yet commenced but it is expected that a similar proportion will also be spent on staff costs in that year.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on which programmes the planned additional £3 billion funding allocation to Jobcentre Plus will be spent. [285988]
Jim Knight:
The Department was allocated £1.7 billion additional funding in the Budget 2009 in addition to the
£1.3 billion announced in the pre-Budget report in November 2008 to fund additional volumes. The funding will be used to support Jobcentre Plus activity and to fund additional long-term employment programmes.
The funding for long-term employment programmes is £620 million as announced in Budget 2009, plus £350 million announced at the pre-Budget report 2008. Most of the provision for the long-term unemployed will be provided through the Flexible New Deal over the next two years. However phased implementation means that there will still be some expenditure on New Deal and Employment Zones programmes over the next two years.
Jobcentre Plus: Job Description
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance her Department gives to jobcentres on procedures to ensure that job advertisements placed with them are genuine. [285813]
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.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question asking what guidance is given to jobcentres on procedures to ensure that job advertisements placed with them are genuine. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The following guidance is provided to Jobcentre Plus staff when handling vacancies from employers to ensure they are genuine. When advertising with Jobcentre Plus employers must provide us with:
a full and clear job description (which is lawful and unambiguous to our customers)
a rate of pay equal to or more than that stated in the National Minimum Wage Act
a guarantee that all other terms and conditions of employment are lawful; and
an assurance that all jobs are available on an open and fair basis to jobseeking customers using our services.
To ensure wherever possible that the employers and their vacancies are genuine we also require:
a full postal address
a landline telephone number
contact name, position with the company and direct telephone number
the type of business they are involved in
the number of employees they have at the individual site; and
a verbal/written National Minimum Wage assurance.
To ensure vacancies advertised by recruitment agencies are genuine, the recruitment agency must sign a service level agreement agreeing to the terms under which Jobcentre Plus will advertise their vacancies. This agreement specifies that all vacancies must be genuine and the agency must supply details of the employer on whose behalf they are advertising.
Jobcentre Plus also contacts all employers 48 hours after their vacancy was advertised to discuss the vacancy and this provides additional assurance that the employer and vacancy are genuine.
Jobcentre Plus: Opening Hours
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus offices operate extended opening hours. [271697]
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.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many Jobcentre Plus offices operate extended opening hours. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
Extending opening hours is one of the ways in which we are responding to the demands on our service. The precise numbers of offices operating extended hours will vary week by week depending on the need.
However, as an example, between 15 and 28 June a total of 301 Jobcentres opened to customers on Saturday, 21 opened to customers on Sunday and 63 opened for extra hours during the week. Our Service Delivery plans are kept under constant review to make sure we offer the best possible service to meet the needs of our customers.
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