The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Lesley Strathie:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how much is being spent in 2006-07 on the provision of professional counselling support to reduce the number of jobseeker’s allowance and incapacity benefit claimants. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The information you requested is not available because Information on the costs of providing professional counselling support is not recorded separately. Budgets are prepared for each type of employment programme, some of which contain an element of professional counselling but expenditure cannot be extracted in a meaningful way.