Departmental Staff (Hansard, 11 March 1993)

§ Mr. Burt

The administration of benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, who will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 10 March 1993. As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will list by year for the last five years (a) the number of persons employed by grade and (b) the annual cost of the Pensions Section at his Department's offices in Castle House, Doncaster, classified by (i) income support pension, (ii) retirement pension, (iii) widow's benefit and (iv) death grant. For operational reasons it is not possible to identify separately staff on Retirement Pensions and Widow's Benefit because the work is merged within staff sections and figures are not available on the Death Grant because it has been abolished. The figures available are only for 1991–1992 and 1992–93 since the Benefits Agency was formed.

The information available is set out below:

Year
Retirement Pension and Widow's Benefit
1991–92
Staff	LO1	1
Staff	LO2	4
Staff	AA	1
Total cost		£69,000
1992–93
Staff	LO1	1
Staff	LO2	6
Staff	AA	1
Total cost		£92,000
Income Support Pensions
1991–92
Staff	LO1	0.5
Staff	LO2	2
Total cost		£30,000
1992–93
Staff	LO1	0.5
Staff	LO2	2
Total cost		£31,000

Note: All costings are subject to rounding to the nearest £1,000.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this letter will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.