[holding answer 8 June 2009]: 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 Mel Groves:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question asking how much and what proportion of its annual budget Jobcentre Plus plans to spend on (a) staff and (b) Jobcentre Plus programmes in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The available information is provided below.
Employment programme budgets are not held by Jobcentre Plus but are controlled centrally by DWP.
£ million 2009/10 3,683 2010/11 3,951 Source: DWP Three Year Business Plan
Based on our indicative plans for 2009/10, our best estimate is that approximately 70 per cent of the Jobcentre Plus administration budget will be spent on staff costs. The remaining 30 per cent will be spent on other non staff related costs. Detailed planning for 2010/11 has not yet commenced but it is expected that a similar proportion will also be spent on staff costs in that year.
The Department was allocated £1.7 billion additional funding in the Budget 2009 in addition to the £1.3 billion announced in the pre-Budget report in November 2008 to fund additional volumes. The funding will be used to support Jobcentre Plus activity and to fund additional long-term employment programmes.
The funding for long-term employment programmes is £620 million as announced in Budget 2009, plus £350 million announced at the pre-Budget report 2008. Most of the provision for the long-term unemployed will be provided through the Flexible New Deal over the next two years. However phased implementation means that there will still be some expenditure on New Deal and Employment Zones programmes over the next two years.