§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to her answer of 25 June 1998,Official Report, column 625, what was the ratio of complaints in the period 1 October 1997 to 31 March 1998 received by the Benefits Agency districts with London offices to (a) the total claimant count at each office and (b) the total population within each district. [49728]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe administration of the Benefits Agency is a matter for its Chief Executive, Peter Mathison. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Andrew Love, dated 15 July 1998:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question pursuant to her Answer of 25th June, Official Report, column 625, what is the ratio of complaints in the period 1st October 1997 to 31st March 1998 received by the Benefits Agency (BA) districts with London offices to (a) the total claimant count at each office and (b) the total population within each district.The information requested is not available.It is not possible to provide a total customer count. The customer load figures collated by each BA office represent the number of people receiving a particular benefit. These figures do not reflect that one customer may be receiving more than one benefit and290Wtherefore may be counted more than once. There are also customers in receipt of benefits who will not be captured in the load figures, for example those in receipt of Retirement Pension are only counted on a national basis.The total population count for each BA district is not available.I am sorry that I have been unable to provide more specific information.