§ Mr. Freesonasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many staff were employed by local unemployment benefit offices in 1979; what was the ratio between the numbers of staff and claimants at that time; what are the similar figures for the last available date; and if he will break the figures down to give the information for each region.
§ Mr. Alison[pursuant to his reply, 3 February 1982, c. 141]: The details are as follows:
271W
January 1979 January 1982 Region Number of Staff Ratio Staff to Claimants Number of Staff Ratio Staff to Claimants Northern 1,579 1:76 2,018 1:107 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,731 1:71 2,577 1:108 South East 2,675 1:69 3,879 1:102 London 2,044 1:70 3,214 1:98 South West 1,289 1:81 1,734 1:107 Wales 1,124 1:79 1,615 1:104 Midlands 2,775 1:70 4,638 1:109 North West 2,874 1:70 3,686 1:111 Scotland 2,517 1:75 3,125 1:106 Total 18,608 1:72 26,486 1:106 Staffing in UBOs is related to work loads by means of a staffing basis scheme derived by the operation of work measurement techniques. The improvement in the ratios is due to the introduction of fortnightly attendance and payment, a revision of the staffing basis scheme following a work measurement exercise, economy of scale resulting from higher unemployment, and the extension of computerisation.