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 work-focused interviews for each category of benefit were conducted in each of the last five years. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The information is not available prior to February 2005. The available information is in the table below.
Benefit 2004-051 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-092 Incapacity benefit 73,463 720,766 991,052 1,191,282 672,446 Jobseeker's allowance 432,317 4,519,620 6,496,398 7,353,192 5,069,839 Income support 63,172 698,958 986,895 1,222,914 895,498 1 The figures for 2004-05 are for February and March 2005. 2 The figures for 2008-09 are for April to October 2008. Source: Jobcentre Plus Business Information System