Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Thursday, 25 May 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 June 2000. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 June 2000 on behalf of the Department of Social Security.

Dept of Social Security

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what action he is taking to improve the quality and accuracy of postcode data with the Analytical Services Division within the Benefits Agency.

Answer: Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he is taking to improve the quality and accuracy of postcode data with the Analytical Services Division within the Benefits Agency. [124686] Angela Eagle: The Department's Analytical Services Division currently produces a range of local level information by matching a claimant's postcode against the Office for National Statistics postcode directory for the key benefits including Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance and Incapacity Benefit. For some benefits, incomplete or missing postcode information makes such a process unreliable and work to improve the accuracy of this information is ongoing. For example, August 1999 Child Benefit data were recently enhanced through the imputation of postcode from claimant address details. A final phase of work to match this against the 2000 postcode directory will soon result in the production of reliable small area estimates for child benefit for the first time. A copy of the child benefit data for all parliamentary constituencies will be placed in the Houses of Parliament Libraries by the end of July 2000.

Secondary information