Captain BENNasked the Minister of Pensions (1) what is the cost of the work done at the Pensions Issue Office, Acton, which has no counterpart at the Pensions Issue Office, Pilton;
- (2) what is the number of the staff employed, the number of cases dealt with, and the cost per case handled at the Pensions Issue Office at Acton;
- (3) what is the number of the staff employed, the number of cases dealt with, and the cost per case handled, at the Pensions Issue Office, Pilton?
Lieut.-Colonel STANLEYThe number of staff employed in Pension Issue Office, Acton, on the 1st instant, was 2,086. The total cost of this staff for the 12 months ended 31st December last was £449,000. The average number of issues made a week is 35,000. The number of staff employed in the Issue Office at Pilton on the 1st instant was 118, and the total cost of this staff for the 12 months ended 31st December last was £27,000. The average number of issues made a week is 3,460, or 8.8 per cent. of the total number made by the two offices together. As I indicated in my reply to the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy on the 17th December last, a comparison between the cost of each case dealt with at Acton and Pilton would be misleading, as the staff attached to the former office performs duties which have no counterpart in the Pilton Office, and in addition undertakes a number of services common to itself and other branches of the Ministry with a staff of 1,220 housed in the same building. It is not possible without an undue amount of labour to make an accurate estimate of the value of these services.
61W
Captain BENNasked the Minister of Pensions (1) what reduction of staff he anticipates through the abolition of the Pensions Issue Office, Pilton; and what provision will be made for the officials discharged from that office;
(2)what nett saving he anticipates as the result of the abolition of the Pensions Issue Office at Pilton?
Lieut.-Colonel STANLEYI estimate the total saving which would be effected by the transfer to London of the work now done in Issue Office, Pilton, at not less than £8,000 a year. The 31 members of the established staff who would be redundant in consequence of the transfer would be transferred to other duties, and the remaining members of the gradually diminishing temporary staff, now numbering 87, would be considered for employment in other offices of the Ministry or reported to the Joint Substitution Board for consideration for employment in vacancies in other Government offices. The hon. and gallant Member will, however, appreciate that administrative economies of this kind necessarily involve reductions in staff.
§ Lieut.-Colonel ASSHETON POWNALLasked the Minister of Pensions the total average staff employed by his Department; what was the total in 1920; and what was the cost of administration in 1920 as compared with the present figure?
Lieut.-Colonel STANLEYOn the 1st February, 1926, the total staff numbered 11,933 against 32,400 in 1920; the cost of administration for 1920–21 was £6,280,869, or 1s. 3d. per £1 of expenditure on pensions and other benefits, and for the current year is estimated at £2,426,000, or 9d. per £1 of benefit expenditure.