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Jobseeker’s Allowance

Volume 486: debated on Thursday 15 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) England claimed jobseeker's allowance in each year since it was introduced. (247593)

The available information is in the table.

Jobseeker's allowance claimants in North Yorkshire and England

As at November each year

England

North Yorkshire

1996

1,528,620

11,990

1997

1,120,390

8,865

1998

1,030,330

8,070

1999

924,785

7,220

2000

800,200

6,105

2001

740,795

5,650

2002

730,620

5,030

2003

715,290

4,955

2004

651,320

4,240

2005

722,685

4,780

2006

771,165

5,350

2007

657,270

4,690

2008

878,045

6,430

Notes:

1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.

2. Data are published at https://www.nomisweb.co.uk

3. Jobseeker's allowance replaced unemployment benefit and income support for unemployed people on 7 October 1996.

4. Figures exclude clerical cases.

Source:

100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of jobseeker’s allowance have had that allowance withdrawn following a failure to meet the conditions attached to receipt of the allowance in the last 12 months for which figures are available, broken down by category. (243685)

The available information is in the following table.

Number of individuals with jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) sanctions/disallowances in Great Britain

2007

2008

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Total

23,100

19,910

22,750

23,260

14,710

23,500

24,730

21,320

25,430

25,910

27,920

31,380

Varied sanctions —discharge from HM forces

Varied sanctions—leaving employment voluntarily

3,740

3,300

3,920

3,710

2,820

4,100

3,680

3,400

3,770'

3,890

3,760

3,820

Varied sanctions—lost employment through misconduct

800

730

720

800

580

970

1,060

880

1,010

1,040

950

940

Varied sanctions—NTA of an opportunity of employment

Varied sanctions—refusal of employment

730

700

850

1,050

820

1,060

990

860

1,080

1,070

1,190

1,360

Fixed Sanction—giving up place on training scheme/emp prog

240

190

220

190

150

200

220

170

210

210

240

280

Fixed Sanction—losing place on place on training scheme/emp prog due to misconduct

600

510

610

560

420

600

660

650

800

790

970

1,100

Fixed Sanction—refusal of place on training scheme/emp prog

10

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

40

Fixed Sanction—NTA of place on training scheme/emp prog

30

20

20

20

20

30

20

20

30

30

30

20

Fixed Sanction—FTA place on training scheme/emp prog

1,760

1,430

1,470

1,530

1,130

1,560

1,690

1,450

1,710

1,690

1,950

2,250

Fixed Sanction—Refusal to carry out a JS direction

270

210

280

230

180

200

220

210

210

240

270

320

Entitlement—Actively seeking employment

2,970

2,640

3,380

3,690

1,890

2,860

3,700

3,160

3,460

3,230

3,780

4,440

Entitlement—Availability questions

540

540

530

490

310

400

440

330

430

440

560

690

Entitlement—FTA Advisory interview/Failure to produce signed declaration

11,390

9,620

10,690

10,930

6,330

11,490

12,000

10,140

12,690

13,230

14,180

16,080

Entitlement—JSAg questions

20

20

30

30

30

10

30

30

20

30

20

30

Entitlement—Trade disputes

Entitlement—Joint Claim exemption

10

10

10

10

10

Definitions:

NTA—Neglected to avail themselves

FTA—Failed to attend

JSAg—Jobseeker’s agreement

Notes:

1. Individuals and decisions based figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding.

2. The most recent adverse sanction is shown for each individual.

3. Figures include all individuals who have had all or just part of their JSA payments sanctioned or withdrawn.

4. Varied length sanctions are sanctions of between one week and 26 weeks imposed for leaving employment voluntarily without just cause, refusing employment without good cause, or losing employment through misconduct. The actual period in each case is at the discretion of the Adjudication Officer who makes the decision.

5. Fixed length sanctions are sanctions of two weeks (four weeks if repeated within 12 months, and 26 weeks if already received a four week sanction within last 12 months) imposed for refusal, without good cause, to attend an employment programme or carry out a Jobseeker’s direction. Payment of benefit continues in full pending the Adjudication Officer’s decision on a sanction question.

6. Entitlement sanctions apply to questions on which entitlement to JSA depends. For example, if there is doubt around whether the Jobseeker’s agreement (JSAg) is suitable, whether they are actively looking for work or making themselves available for work. In most cases payment of JSA will be suspended by benefit processing until the doubt is resolved.

Source:

DWP Information Directorate: Jobseeker's Allowance Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what his Department's projections of the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants are for each month of the next three years; and if he will make a statement; (244140)

(2) what his Department's latest projections are for (a) unemployment and (b) claimant count in each month in each of the next three years, (i) in total and (ii) broken down by the lowest possible geographical area for which projections are available.

The Government do not publish forecasts of unemployment, on either an ILO or jobseeker's allowance claimant count basis, but the jobseeker's allowance expenditure forecast is based on the planning assumption published by HM Treasury in the pre-Budget report.

Notes:

1. The figures quoted in the pre-Budget report are seasonally adjusted UK Claimant unemployment. This is a cautious assumption based on the average of external forecasts and is not the Treasury's economic forecast.

2. The pre-Budget report 2008 assumption can also be found at:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr08_annexb_262.pdf

(p188. Table B1).

3. The planning assumption is used for budgetary planning at a national level, and is not disaggregated into sub-national areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (a) how much was spent on working-age recipients of jobseeker's allowance and (b) income support in each of the last 10 years. (246722)

The information requested can be found in the annual Department for Work and Pensions Departmental Reports since 2004, copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many unprocessed jobseeker's allowance claims there were in each of the last six months, broken down by (a) region and (b) Jobcentre Plus district; what the average claim processing time was in each case; and if he will make a statement. (246903)

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 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 unprocessed Jobseeker's Allowance claims there were in each of the last six months, broken down by region and Jobcentre Plus district and what the average claim processing time was in each case. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

Jobcentre Plus calculates the number of unprocessed Jobseeker's Allowance claims on a monthly basis by carrying out a count across the benefit processing system on the last working day of the month. On any given day a small number of claims will be in transit between offices, so the count will slightly understate the total number of unprocessed claims.

The target for Jobseeker's Allowance Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) is 11.5 days. This is calculated from the customer's initial date of contact to the date a decision is made on their claim. Our benefit processing system calculates the AACT by taking each claim's clearance time using the dates as described and calculates an average across the volume of claims processed.

A copy of the latest available information has been placed in the Library. Data is available to Benefit Delivery Centre level and I have also given a national figure. This data has not been available by Jobcentre Plus district level since April 2006.