[holding answer 22 February 2010]: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Letter from Darra Singh:
Jobcentre Plus measures performance on the processing of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) claims through the Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) target. The current target for 2009-10 is 11.5 days. This time is calculated across an average of all the claims cleared in any given month looking at the date the customer first contacted Jobcentre Plus or the customers first day of unemployment, whichever is the later. The end date is the date a formal decision is made on the claim and a notification is issued to the customer on entitlement.
In addition to collecting AACT data our benefit processing system also gathers useful management information on the volumes of claims processed within the time bands you have requested.
The following table outlines the number of JSA claims processed in December 2009 and January 2010 in both number and percentage terms. The final JSA AACT in month performance for December was 9.0 days and for January was 9.1 days. Current Year to date performance for the 2009-10 performance year is 9.8 days.
Month December 2009 January 2010 JSA Processed in 5 days 99,342 113,890 JSA Processed in 10 days 184,131 223,551 JSA Processed in 16 days 225,299 276,843 JSA Processed in 21 days 239,639 293,821 JSA Processed in 22+ days 17,275 20,068 1-5 days 38.70% 36.30% 6-10 days 33.00% 34.90% 11-16 days 16.00% 17.00% 17-21 days 5.60% 5.40% 22+ days 6.70% 6.40% Source: Management and Information System Programme (MISP) 11.02.10
Please note that the figures provided in the table indicate cumulative figures not stand alone figures for those time bands. For instance, those cleared within 10 days include the claims that were also cleared within 5 days. The only stand alone figures are those cases cleared within the 22+ days timeband.
I hope this information is helpful.