asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many complaints he has received during the last 12 months concerning the work of (a) jobcentres and (b) professional and executive recruitment service.

I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that during the past 12 months 406 letters have been received from Members of Parliament, mostly on behalf of constituents, about matters relating to jobcentres and employment offices, and 74 letters regarding PER Services. In both cases many of the letters are about difficulties in ob-obtaining employment or recruiting workers, and do not necessarily reflect criticism of the services. It is not possible to say how many of the 480 letters embodied a complaint without involving a disproportionate cost in staff time and effort.