The information has been placed in the Library.
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 Ruth Owen:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many staff engaged in what types of work were employed by Jobcentre Plus in each month since January 2007. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mel Groves as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. As Mel Groves is currently on annual leave, I am replying in his absence.
The tables below show the number of staff against a range of activities for each month from January 2007 up to February 2009. Functions in the customer service operations part of Jobcentre Plus are standard activities and each month Jobcentre Plus captures how many full-time equivalents are deployed on each of these activities. In addition to staff deployed on standard activities, there are also around 2,500 people in Directorates who support Jobcentre Plus operations. People in these roles undertake a wide variety of activities and are recorded as Other Business Support.
January February March Jobcentre Plus Activities 69,766 69,181 67,751 Income Support (IS) New Claims Processing 1,691 1,667 1,645 IS Claims Maintenance 3,749 3,788 3,691 Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) New Claims Processing 3,483 3,431 3,379 JSA Claims Maintenance 2,118 2,132 2,057 Incapacity Benefit (IB) New Claims Processing 1,332 1,348 1,339 IB Claims Maintenance 2,998 3,015 2,947 Benefit Telephony Team 3,145 3,152 3,069 Social Fund Activities 2,975 2,943 2,887 Benefit Management 389 390 380 Other Benefit Processing and Maintenance Activities 10,174 9,898 9,537 Provide Fraud Investigation Service 2,865 2,816 2,750 Provide Customer Compliance Service 875 870 866 Job Seeker Direct 886 906 809 Employer Vacancy Handling 1,454 1,428 1,402 Job Enquiry Activities 59 59 61 3rd Party Provision Management (non European Social Fund—ESF) 244 240 234 3rd Party Provision Management (ESF) 131 135 132 Job Search Review 4,578 4,511 4,407 Disability Services 374 378 359 Employment Zones Initiatives 36 36 35 Personal Adviser Activities (includes Management and Support) 12,107 12,083 11,947 New Deal for Disabled People 92 82 72 Provide Fraud and Error Risk Management 320 320 313 Business Support Activities 8,925 8,902 8,876 Other Business Support 4,766 4,651 4,557
April May June July August September October November December January February March JCP Activities 67,562 66,903 67,100 67,391 67,241 67,050 66,944 67,083 67,005 66,951 66,846 66,378 IS—New Claims 1,592 1,550 1,544 1,536 1,504 1,480 1,441 1,433 1,439 1,408 1,387 1,377 IS Claims Maintenance 2,690 2,653 2,666 2,564 2,534 2,526 2,514 2,552 2,513 2,473 2,532 2,501 JSA New Claims Processing 1,698 1,700 1,708 1,694 1,666 1,655 1,654 1,606 1,571 1,546 1,546 1,558 JSA Claims Maintenance 1,509 1,495 1,526 1,548 1,563 1,580 1,550 1,543 1,567 1,560 1,560 1,564 Benefit Telephony Team 2,420 2,507 2,515 2,631 3,005 3,058 3,156 3,310 3,361 3,418 3,412 3,416 IB New Claims Processing 1,074 1,048 1,049 1,054 1,020 1,002 989 996 987 966 958 959 Incapacity Benefit Claims Maintenance 2,426 2,344 2,350 2,359 2,344 2,341 2,322 2,308 2,298 2,293 2,279 2,251 Debt Referrals Activities 481 504 493 504 500 600 602 605 582 585 578 550 Social Fund Activities 2,908 2,925 3,001 3,358 3,157 3,358 3,345 3,239 3,255 3,221 3,205 3,111 Benefit Management 479 477 476 473 495 494 489 484 484 493 484 487 Other Benefit Processing and Maintenance Activities 14,469 14,316 14,136 13,938 13,668 13,414 13,323 13,288 13,256 13,236 13,167 12,972 Provide Fraud Investigation Service 2,783 2,740 2,743 2,736 2,726 2,723 2,716 2,713 2,692 2,682 2,698 2,697 Provide Customer Compliance Service 879 875 893 896 893 897 901 910 920 918 916 916 Job Seeker Direct 761 722 718 588 664 536 529 606 603 597 598 563 National Sales Team 144 151 148 148 150 159 173 174 173 173 175 166 Employer Vacancy Handling 1,226 1,182 1,206 1,280 1,238 1,163 1,188 1,241 1,223 1,267 1,289 1,320 Job Enquiry Activities 148 152 147 144 138 122 128 119 113 116 112 107 3rd Party Provision Management (non ESF) 234 230 229 222 217 219 217 226 228 227 230 227 3rd Party Provision Management (ESF) 136 133 134 140 141 137 137 133 134 127 125 126 Job Search Review 4,613 4,583 4,657 4,797 4,853 4,796 4,755 4,743 4,747 4,800 4,816 4,768 Allowance Payment Processors 814 665 517 448 406 369 317 313 302 292 282 284 Disability Services 86 86 81 87 88 87 86 82 80 77 79 82 Access to Work (includes Management and Support) 274 261 259 257 255 253 256 257 257 256 253 252 Employment Zones Initiatives 27 26 29 31 33 34 35 37 36 42 44 44 Personal Adviser Activities (includes Management and Support) 11,881 11,973 12,235 12,358 12,422 12,516 12,595 12,647 12,699 12,761 12,746 12,695 New Deal for Disabled People 74 71 68 67 59 55 54 50 45 31 29 27 Jobcentre Manager (JCM) 406 442 464 487 506 511 528 538 538 545 552 549 Provide Fraud and Error Risk Management 295 297 290 291 282 286 284 286 285 278 280 288 Business Support Activities 6,844 6,856 6,934 6,900 6,960 6,941 6,933 6,949 6,931 7,067 7,102 7,166 Other Business Support 4,192 3,943 3,882 3,856 3,753 3,738 3,726 3,697 3,686 3,493 3,414 3,355
April May June July August September October November December January February JCP Activities 65,979 65,607 66,505 67,308 67,346 66,975 66,733 66,890 67,165 67,941 68,315 IS New Claims Processing 1,350 1,317 1,345 1,337 1,318 1,182 1,140 993 899 795 714 IS Claims Maintenance 2,455 2,463 2,448 2,499 2,472 2,369 2,299 2,239 2,220 2,186 2,124 JSA New Claims Processing 1,548 1,569 1,614 1,618 1,647 1,610 1,657 1,752 1,853 2,254 2,455 JSA Claims Maintenance 1,612 1,601 1,545 1,593 1,601 1,573 1,524 1,558 1,567 1,593 1,609 IB New Claims Processing 967 937 939 910 912 751 719 567 481 394 302 Incapacity Benefit Claims Maintenance 2,218 2,271 2,293 2,376 2,366 2,211 2,187 2,061 2,004 1,942 1,896 ESA New Claims Processing 0 0 0 0 40 474 600 958 1,066 1,101 1,130 ESA—Claims Maintenance 0 0 0 0 15 220 230 306 401 508 614 Social Fund Activities 2,558 2,605 2,667 2,777 2,749 2,731 2,733 2,745 2,757 2,817 2,827 Benefit Telephony Team 3,403 3,406 3,532 3,638 3,698 3,599 3,586 3,550 3,655 3,679 3,720 Debt Referrals Activities 461 435 514 480 455 443 436 435 422 405 396 Other Benefit Processing and Maintenance Activities 8,535 8,400 8,353 8,318 8,280 8,171 8,063 8,012 7,988 7,971 7,841 Benefit Management 480 478 488 495 490 489 500 526 531 541 543 Provide Fraud Investigation Service 2,910 2,841 2,820 2,817 2,799 2,804 2,797 2,781 2,769 2,779 2,790 Provide Customer Compliance Service 911 901 903 902 894 891 885 887 880 854 836 Personal Adviser Activities (includes Management and Support) 12,800 12,882 12,978 13,217 13,287 13,345 13,397 13,444 13,524 13,892 14,015 Employer Vacancy Handling 1,026 1,098 1,197 1,306 1,394 1,457 1,475 1,467 1,438 1,406 1,398 Job Enquiry Activity 110 95 89 86 75 76 73 62 61 64 64 3rd Party Provision Management 235 224 225 228 232 239 240 246 247 243 241 ESF 107 109 112 122 110 116 120 115 113 110 112 Job Search Review 4,665 4,612 4,746 5,067 5,122 5,007 4,881 4,869 4,923 5,037 5,249 Allowance Payment Processors 240 238 238 234 235 235 237 242 233 234 232 Disability Services 83 86 86 87 87 86 83 82 81 81 85 Employment Zones Initiatives 47 48 49 42 37 34 30 29 28 31 31 New Deal for Disabled People 21 20 22 6 5 5 5 4 5 4 4 Customer Service Manager 1,392 1,370 1,380 1,401 1,423 1,428 1,414 1,403 1,429 1,452 1,495 Jobcentre Manager (JCM) 555 559 567 583 587 576 573 568 564 571 572 National Sales Team 133 76 34 43 45 44 47 53 61 62 59 Access to Work (includes Management and Support) 253 252 250 259 267 262 259 261 258 250 243 Contact Centre Agents 5,623 5,463 5,653 5,882 5,720 5,580 5,601 5,758 5,854 5,973 6,019 Provide Fraud and Error Risk Management 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Business Support Activities 6,585 6,591 6,527 6,569 6,601 6,616 6,579 6,551 6,507 6,360 6,367 Other Business Support 2,697 2,658 2,886 2,419 2,380 2,356 2,365 2,365 2,344 2,353 2,329
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 Ruth Owen:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking how many staff engaged in what types of work were employed by Jobcentre Plus (JCP) in each year since 1997. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mel Groves as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus. As Mel Groves is currently on annual leave, I am replying in his absence.
The enclosed tables show the average number of staff across each year from April 2003 up to February 2009, against a range of activities. Information is not available prior to April 2003. Functions in the customer service operations part of Jobcentre Plus are standard activities and each month Jobcentre Plus captures how many full-time equivalents are deployed on each of these activities. In addition to staff deployed on these activities, there are also around 2,500 people in Directorates that support Jobcentre Plus operations. People in these roles undertake a wide variety of activities and are recorded as Other Business Support.
You will see in the table a sharp reduction in Personal Adviser numbers between 2004/05 (22,479) and 2005/06 (14,614). You will wish to note that is due to staff involved in Fortnightly Job Reviews being removed from the Personal Adviser count from 2005/06 and subsequently.
JCP activities 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 IS Claims 2,845 2,311 1,941 IS Load 4,500 4,203 4,059 JSA Claims 2,811 2,433 2,179 JSA Load 2,488 2,184 1,966 IB Claims 1,933 1,603 1,357 IB Load 3,359 3,418 3,157 Social Fund Activities 3,484 3,316 3,367 Other Benefit Processing and Maintenance Activities 7,946 8,493 11,982 Benefit Management — — 400 Customer Compliance — — 1,084 Criminal Investigation — — 2,698 Job Enquiries Activity — — 1,062 Vacancy Service Manager — — 720 Counter-Fraud Investigation Service 4,560 4,176 — Jobseeker Direct 882 762 882 Jobsearch Review Activity — — 4,488 Disability Services 420 428 1,024 Employment Zones 31 47 38 Personal Adviser Activities (includes Management and Support) 22,966 22,479 14,614 NDDP — — 178 Business Support Activities 16,785 16,687 9,952 Other Business Support — — 1,452 Total 75,010 72,540 68,600
JCP activities 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 IS New Claims Processing 1,768 1,467 1,120 IS Claims Maintenance 3,700 2,548 2,331 JSA New Claims Processing 3,416 1,626 1,771 JSA Claims Maintenance 1,978 1,540 1,572 Debt Referrals Activities — 546 442 IB New Claims Processing 1,282 1,004 712 Incapacity Benefit Claims Maintenance 2,966 2,315 2,155 ESA New Claims Processing — — 486 ESA-Claims Maintenance — — 208 Benefit Telephony Team 2,693 3,002 3,570 Social Fund Activities 2,860 3,158 2,711 Benefit Management 454 482 503 Other Benefit Processing and Maintenance Activities 10,003 13,535 8,135 Provide Fraud Investigation Service 1,642 2,708 2,796 Provide Customer Compliance Service 883 897 882 Job Seeker Direct 897 621 — National Sales Team — 160 59 Employer Vacancy Handling 1,521 1,229 1,427 Job Enquiry Activities 28 128 77 3rd Party Provision Management (non ESF) 283 224 — 3rd Party Provision Management (ESF) 137 133 — 3rd Party Provision Management — — 235 ESF — — 113 Job Search Review 4,571 4,721 4,901 Allowance Payment Processors — 416 235 Disability Services 381 83 84 Access to Work (includes Management and Support) — 256 254 Customer Service Agent — — 5,610 Employment Zones Initiatives 40 35 37 Personal Adviser Activities (includes Management and Support) 11,697 12,401 13,278 New Deal for Disabled People 119 52 9 Customer Service Manager — — 1,410 Jobcentre Manager (JCM) — 503 568 Provide Fraud and Error Risk Management 1,648 285 1 Business Support Activities 9,367 6,932 6,500 Other Business Support 5,090 3,710 2,456 Total 69,425 66,719 66,648