§ 6. Mr. SumbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action he has taken in response to the findings of the Moodie report on social security staffing.
§ Mr. MooreI have made clear my determination to secure improvements in service to the public. My Department's investment of £1.2 billion in developing our operational strategy is directed at that objective. So is the Moodie report on our local office network. I commissioned it and I welcomed it on its publication in June. I have already accepted in principle its recommendation that those elements of local office work which do not require face-to-face contact with the public should be moved out of some hard-pressed offices.
§ Mr. SumbergI acknowledge the tremendous work done by the officers at my DSS offices in Bury. Does my right hon. Friend agree on the need to improve the take-up of benefit by our constituents? Would not the hiving off of some services on an agency basis assist in meeting that objective?
§ Mr. MooreThe specific question refers to relocation, and I am waiting for the final Moodie report on whether an agency system would improve the service to the customer. Our prime concern must be how to ensure that the claimants, wherever they are in the kingdom, are looked after best. I am obviously delighted to look to an improvement in opportunities, especially for the hard-pressed regions, many of which might find the proposed changes of benefit to them.
§ Mr. LeightonWill the Secretary of State admit that, as the amount of benefit paid out since April has diminished, his intention is to reduce the number of people employed in DSS offices? Is that not a mistake? Is this not a golden opportunity to keep those staff on to provide a better service and, in particular, to run a take-up campaign among those who are entitled to benefit but who are not claiming it?
§ Mr. MooreThe hon. Gentleman is right. Because of the reduction in unemployment, the simpler income support claimant forms and the way in which the whole system is being helped, there has been a considerable reduction in work in our offices. The hon. Gentleman was wrong not to realise that that is being used throughout the system—I have travelled extensively around the benefit offices to check on this—to improve delivery of service. Comparing income support with supplementary benefit, the national average clearance time for claims has fallen from over 11 days at the end of 1987 to five days in 734 September 1988, and I expect it to improve. The error rate has decreased. We are using the enhancement of the staff to improve our services, and staff are not being lost as a consequence.