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Dept for Work and Pensions;Jobcentre Plus

Answer

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost has been of creating Jobcentre Plus offices in each year since 2001-02; and what the estimated costs are for each year to 2007-08. [187347] Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive. Letter from David Anderson to Mr. David Willets, dated 7 September 2004: The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the costs of creating Jobcentre Plus offices in each year since 2001/02 and what the estimated costs are for each year to 2007/08. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. The creation of Jobcentre Plus offices was organised in two separate phases. The rollout did not start until 2002/03. The 56 offices introduced in 2001/02 were known as Pathfinders and were not accounted for as part of the main roll out project. The capital cost of these Pathfinders in 2001/02 was £36.7m. From 2002/03 the Jobcentre Plus Implementation Project was set up to roll out the remaining offices nationwide. This is a 4-year programme from 2002/03 to 2005/06. The breakdown of the total costs is as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Total £ million Percentage Total Staffing 674 30 Total Running Costs 652 29 Total Capital 903 41 Total Rollout Programme 2229 100 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The total project spend to date, including accruals, is £817m. The annual costs of rolling out the offices are shown below. £ million _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Actual Forecast outturn Rollout Programme 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 Total Capital Costs 111 251 195 346 903 Staffing/Running Costs 149 200 381 596 1326 Cumulative Total 260 711 1287 2229 -- _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The Jobcentre Plus Implementation project is due to be completed in March 2006. The project has now rolled out over 500 offices and remains within budget. I hope this is helpful.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

424 c1106W; 187347

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Costs Jobcentres Jobcentre Plus Staff Offices Operating costs

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk