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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the ratio of personal advisers to jobseeker's allowance claimants in (a) the UK and (b) each region of England, (c) Wales, (d) Scotland and (e) Northern Ireland has been in each month since May 2009; and if she will...

Asked by

Jenny Willott (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

14 October 2009

For answer on

16 October 2009

Answered on

10 November 2009

Jobcentre Plus manages its work force in a way that makes direct comparison between headcount and work load difficult in each geographic region. For example, adviser functions will also include non-jobseeker's allowance customers like those in receipt of incapacity benefit, and employment and support allowance.Available information, for Great Britain only, is shown in the following table.Information regarding Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office.

Ratio of personal advisers to jobseeker's allowance claimants by each region in England, Wales and Scotland in May, June and July 2009
	Ratio of jobseeker's allowance claimants to staff
Government office region	May 2009	June 2009	July 2009
East	177.2	156.9	146.5
East Midlands	174.8	155.2	144.9
London	139.0	132.4	128.7
North East	130.2	121.6	115.9
North West	135.6	127.1	120.6
Scotland	126.5	116.6	114.6
South East	167.5	160.8	156.5
South West	156.3	141.0	130.4
Wales	148.9	141.1	127.7
West Midlands	164.5	157.2	153.5
Yorkshire and the Humber	162.3	141.2	134.1
Notes:
1. Figures for Jobcentre Plus staff relate to Jobcentre Plus staff as a whole and not those deployed against jobseeker's allowance customers/claims.
2. Ratio of jobseeker's allowance claimants to staff are rounded to one decimal place.
Sources:
DWP WPLS 100 per cent. data and Jobcentre Plus Human Resources.

The table shows a level of variation across the country between personal advisers and jobseeker's allowance customers. This is to be expected and is due to variations in the Jobcentre Plus operating model. The level of use of external providers is an example. Variations in other adviser work loads not directly linked to the jobseeker's allowance claimant count will be another factor.

Date

10 November 2009

Reference

499 c299-300W; 294033

House

House of Commons

Unemployment

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are enough personal advisers in Jobcentre Plus offices to deal with the number of people unemployed; and, if not, how many personal adviser posts are vacant.

Asked by

Baroness Thomas of Winchester (Liberal Democrat)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

6 November 2009

Jobcentre Plus monitors workloads very closely, both at local and national level, to enable it to plan for and deploy extra resources where these are needed to provide services to unemployed customers. Since November 2008 the Government have invested nearly £5 billion to help people claiming out-of-work benefits get back to work. As part of this, funding to Jobcentre Plus has been increased by £3 billion to ensure Jobcentre Plus continues to provide personal help and advice to customers who need it, despite the current recession. This money will also help ensure that the Flexible New Deal—which is now providing tailored help for the long-term unemployed—can cater effectively for higher volumes of jobseekers. The Budget 2009 funding meant that Jobcentre Plus was able to recruit up to 10,000 more staff, on top of 6,000 new staff previously announced in PBR. This increase is entirely for staff directly helping customers to find work or provide support until they get a job. Between October 2008 and July 2009, Jobcentre Plus had recruited 14,000 people. Once forthcoming official statistics for headcount are published we expect to be able to confirm that Jobcentre Plus had achieved its plan to reach 82,000 full-time equivalents in post by the end of September 2009. Meanwhile, customers are now using Jobcentre Plus services differently than previously. More of its face-to-face customer contact is on an appointment basis and information on job vacancies is readily available by telephone and the internet. We have introduced a single national telephone number for new benefit claims so that calls from the public can be directed to the next available member of staff, regardless of location, giving Jobcentre Plus flexibility in where it handles work. This enables staff in jobcentres to focus on those customers in greatest need of support to return to work, maximising the impact of our resources.

Date

6 November 2009

Reference

5467; 714 c104-6WA

House

House of Lords

Jobcentre Plus: Manpower

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many personal advisers have been employed in jobcentres in each of the last 10 years.

Asked by

Baroness May of Maidenhead (Conservative)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

23 April 2009

For answer on

27 April 2009

Answered on

4 November 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.Letter from Mel Groves:"The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many personal advisers have been employed in Jobcentres in each of the last 10 years. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.""Information is only available from 2003/04. The following table shows the number of advisers for each year from 2003/04 to 2009/10. These figures represent an average of staff deployed in personal adviser activities across each year.""The table reports a reducing trend in personal adviser numbers over the period. That reflects a decline in unemployment levels. However, as unemployment has increased, this has resulted in additional personal advisers being recruited during the second half of 2008/09. As at May 2009, Jobcentre Plus had 10,458 advisers in post and more are currently being recruited."

Jobcentre Plus personal advisers
	Full-time equivalents
2003-04	10,159
2004-05	10,515
2005-06	10,259
2006-07	9,275
2007-08	9,235
2008-09	9,425
2009-10¹	10,193
¹ Figure is average staff deployed between April 2009 and May 2009.

Date

4 November 2009

Reference

498 c1084W; 271624

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Manpower

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) agency staff have been employed in (i) benefit delivery centres and (ii) customer-facing job centres operated by Jobcente Plus in Mid-Bedfordshire constituency in each year since 2004.

Asked by

Nadine Dorries (Conservative)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

20 October 2009

For answer on

22 October 2009

Answered on

3 November 2009

Staff employed by Jobcentre Plus in Mid-Bedfordshire constituency
	Bedford Jobcentre	Biggleswade Jobcentre
2006/07
Permanent	77	10
Fixed Term Appointment	—	—
Temporary	—	—
Total	77	10

2007/08
Permanent	69	11
Fixed Term Appointment	3	—
Temporary	—	—
Total	72	11

2008/09
Permanent	85	12
Fixed Term Appointment	12	3
Temporary	1	—
Total	98	15

July 2009
Permanent	72	10
Fixed Term Appointment	29	7
Temporary	5	—
Total	106	17
Notes:
1. Headcount figures are quoted in full-time equivalents using the Office for National Statistics definitions for counting headcount and details the position at March for each of the last three years.
2. The figures have been rounded to whole numbers.
Source:
The data provided are taken from Dataview, an electronic extract drawn from payroll.

Date

3 November 2009

Reference

498 c824-5W; 295402

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Manpower

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus staff were employed in each region in each of the last five years.

Asked by

Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 October 2009

For answer on

12 October 2009

Answered on

3 November 2009

Jobcentre Plus staffing
	Full-time equivalent
2004/05	74,474
2005/06	71,221
2006/07	67,946

"For 2007/08 and 2008/09, the information at regional/country level is in the table below. The levels of Jobcentre Plus staff deployed across regions/countries will vary depending on how specific areas of work are managed. For instance, the Contact Centre Directorate operates a virtual network and therefore aligning their work to geographic boundaries would be misleading. Wales has three large contact centres handling calls as part of the virtual network.""On the same principle, the network of Benefit Delivery Centres can, and does, move work around the country on a weekly basis to maximise speed of claim processing. Although Benefit Delivery Centres are in the main linked to regions/countries, such work movement and some centralised functions mean there is not a clear distinction. For example, applications for National Insurance numbers are processed in two centres, Glasgow and Isle of Wight, so staff numbers will be included in the Government Office Region for Scotland and South East respectively."

Jobcentre Plus staffing
Full-time equivalent
Region/country	2007/08	2008/09
East Midlands	4,342	4,801
East of England	4,202	4,601
London	7,407	7,560
North East	4,313	4,333
North West	10,661	10,672
Scotland	7,776	8,256
South East	5,118	5,555
South West	4,275	4,602
Wales	4,562	4,908
West Midlands	6,391	6,781
Yorkshire and the Humber	7,360	7,413
Total	66,407	69,482
Notes:
1. Headcount figures are quoted in full-time equivalents using the Office for National Statistics definitions for counting headcount and details the position at March for each of the last five years.
2. The figures have been rounded to whole numbers.
Source:
The data provided is taken from Dataview, an electronic extract drawn from payroll.

Date

3 November 2009

Reference

498 c823-4W; 291602

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Birmingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) permanent, (b) temporary and (c) agency staff have been employed in (i) benefit delivery centres and (ii) customer-facing jobcentres operated by Jobcentre Plus in Birmingham, Sparkbrook & Small Heath constituency in each year since 2004.

Asked by

Roger Godsiff (Labour)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

9 October 2009

For answer on

12 October 2009

Answered on

2 November 2009

The administration of Jobcentre Plus is the responsibility of the Acting Chief Executive, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide my hon. Friend with the information requested.Letter from Mel Groves:"The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many a) permanent b) temporary and c) agency staff have been employed in i) Benefit Delivery Centres and ii) customer-facing Jobcentres operated by Jobcentre Plus in Birmingham, Sparkbrook & Small Heath constituency in each year since 2004. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.""Information below national level for the period prior to 2006/07 is not available. The table below sets out data for each of the years 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09, broken down by permanent, fixed-term appointment and temporary staff. We do not employ agency staff. In addition, in the period since March, Sparkhill Jobcentre has seen further staffing increases in line with the increases across Jobcentre Plus more generally to deal with rising unemployment levels."

Staff employed by the Benefit Delivery Centre and Jobcentre Plus in Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency
	Ravenhurst Benefit Delivery Centre	Sparkhill Jobcentre Plus
2006/07
Permanent	234	69
Fixed Term Appointment	14	5
Temporary	—	—
Total	248	74

2007/08
Permanent	271	79
Fixed Term Appointment	10	7
Temporary	—	3
Total	281	89

2008/09
Permanent	288	100
Fixed Term Appointment	13	3
Temporary	—	—
Total	301	103
Notes:
1. Headcount figures are quoted in full time equivalents using the Office for National Statistics definitions for counting headcount and details the position at March for each of the last three years.
2. The figures have been rounded to whole numbers.
Source:
The data provided is taken from Dataview, an electronic extract drawn from payroll.

Date

2 November 2009

Reference

498 c728-9W; 291439

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many Jobcentre Plus offices there are in each region;

Asked by

Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

2 November 2009

Reference

498 c728W; 291603

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus

(2) how many Jobcentre Plus offices closed in each region in each of the last five years.

Asked by

Lord Stunell (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

2 November 2009

Reference

498 c728W; 291604

House

House of Commons

Discretionary Social Fund

The Secretary of State will be making changes to the discretionary Social Fund, with effect from 30 October 2009. The change introduces the requirement for most customers to be interviewed at a local Jobcentre Plus office when they make a third or subsequent application for a crisis loan to cover...

Member

Helen Goodman (Labour)

Department

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written statements

Date

29 October 2009

Reference

498 c30WS

House

House of Commons

Employment Services: Disabled

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what impact assessment she plans to carry out in respect of the effects on disabled people of the implementation of recent changes to arrangements for specialist disability employment services.

Asked by

John Howell (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

28 October 2009

Reference

498 c356W; 294765

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the revenue guaranteed by the Jobseekers Direct telephone line in 2009-10.

Asked by

Jeff Ennis (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

26 October 2009

Reference

498 c159-60W;498 c157-8W; 291734

House

House of Commons

Jobcentres

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations her Department has received on standards of customer service at Jobcentres.

Asked by

David Hamilton (Labour)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

19 October 2009

Reference

497 c1252-3W; 293520

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many jobs advertised in Jobcentre Plus offices were sourced through recruitment agencies in each (a) region and (b) Jobcentre Plus district in each month of the last five years;

Asked by

Justine Greening (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

12 October 2009

Reference

497 c62W; 289470

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Buildings

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job centres are located in buildings which are not owned by the Government.

Asked by

John Leech (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

12 October 2009

Reference

497 c62W; 289268

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus

(2) how many people have found employment from jobs advertised in Jobcentre Plus which are sourced from recruitment agencies in each (a) region and (b) Jobcentre Plus district in each month of the last five years.

Asked by

Justine Greening (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

12 October 2009

Reference

497 c62W; 289471

House

House of Commons

Summer Recess Adjournment

I am delighted to be able to contribute to the debate. I wish to raise three substantive issues, but I shall begin by displaying the same level of indignation as my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle). I was promised a Jobcentre Plus facility in Dursley, in the...

Member

David Drew (Labour; Co-operative Party)

Type

Proceeding contributions

Date

21 July 2009

Reference

496 c830-2

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Telephone Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will instruct Jobcentre Plus to permit its telephones to be used for calls made for the purpose of applying for a crisis loan.

Asked by

Adrian Sanders (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Tabled on

23 June 2009

For answer on

25 June 2009

Answered on

21 July 2009

The administration of Jobcentre Plus is the responsibility of the acting chief executive, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.Letter from Mel Groves:"The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking if she will instruct Jobcentre Plus to permit its telephones to be used for calls made for the purpose of applying for a crisis loan. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.""Our position on this issue was set out for the Work and Pensions Select Committee in Neil Couling's letter to Terry Rooney dated 9 July 2008. A copy of that letter is attached.""I hope this is helpful."Letter from Neil Couling:"Early in the New Year, I wrote to you outlining a pilot we were running to allow vulnerable customers to make applications for Social Fund Crisis Loans (SFCLs) using Customer Access Points (CAPs or 'warm phones') in Jobcentres. This follows the Committee's recommendation in its 2006-07 report. We worked with the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union to agree these arrangements. The small pilot ran from 7 January to 28 March this year and we have now completed the evaluation, which I have attached.""Our current procedures mean that, customers cannot use warm phones to make SFCL applications. This is because a customer could receive an adverse decision in an unscreened area and so, if aggrieved, could pose a risk to themselves, staff or other customers. This control measure is a key part of our agreement with the PCS on working in unscreened offices. The result is that, at present, some vulnerable customers—who use a face-to-face procedure instead of our normal channel of making a telephone claim from home—are referred to a screened office to receive their decision (be that favourable or adverse).""The main replacement control measures for the pilot, agreed with the PCS, meant that Floor Managers and Customer Care Officers were always aware of calls of this type, and—crucially—that the Decision Maker in the Benefit Delivery Centre would contact the Jobcentre on a dedicated telephone line if the application was about to be refused. This allows the Floor Manager and Customer Care Officers to be in place to offer any further assistance to the customer on receipt of an adverse decision. Given the potential risks, and PCS concerns to such an approach, we agreed to a small pilot which ran in five offices in Northumbria.""During the three month pilot seven customers used the service, compared to two using the existing face-to-face service in the preceding 14 months in the whole Northumbria District. Four were awarded a Crisis Loan and there were no incidents of unacceptable customer behaviour linked to any of these customers.""The qualitative evaluation revealed that Jobcentre staff locally were confident that this service was restricted to appropriately vulnerable customers; that they enjoyed the discretion and flexibility this service provided; and, that it was an improvement in access for those customers who are currently turned away or sent to a screened office for a face-to-face decision.""Whilst this pilot has been encouraging, we do not feel that it provides sufficiently strong evidence to roll out nationally—volumes were low and, as the evaluation report reveals, the effectiveness of the alternative control measures was not properly tested. To ensure that this is a safe and effective approach we intend to pilot the scheme again in London, with the option to roll out nationally if it is successful.""We will consult the Public and Commercial Services Union on this basis. We also need to develop the approach along side ""Accessing Jobcentre Customer Services (AJCS), which seeks to enhance services for vulnerable customers, and any changes to the Social Fund. Given these factors, and the full change agenda facing Jobcentre Plus—including the rollout of the Employment and Support Allowance—we are looking to run this large scale pilot as early as is practicable 2009.""I hope this is helpful and that you are encouraged, as we are, by these early findings. I will update you as the pilot progresses and am happy to answer any question that you or the Committee have in the meantime."

Date

21 July 2009

Reference

496 c1304-5W; 282617

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Maidenhead of 13 July 2009, Official Report, columns 63-4W, on Jobcentre Plus, what the locations are of (a) the 18 buildings that have already been modified and (b) the 151 buildings...

Asked by

Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 July 2009

Reference

496 c1295-6W; 288483

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Interviews

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance her Department has issued to Jobcentre Plus on the duration of jobseeker's interviews; whether jobseeker interviews are required to be on a one-to-one basis; how frequently jobseekers may be required to sign on; what recent guidance her Department...

Asked by

Baroness May of Maidenhead (Conservative)

Answering body

Department for Work and Pensions

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 July 2009

Reference

496 c1300-1W; 271621

House

House of Commons

Jobcentre Plus: Greater London

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) benefit delivery centres and (b) customer-facing jobcentres were operated by Jobcentre Plus in each London borough in each of the last 24 months.

Asked by

Justine Greening (Conservative)

Answering body

Jobcentre Plus

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

21 July 2009

Reference

496 c1299W; 275518

House

House of Commons

Librarians' tools

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Answering member

Legislative stage

Legislation

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