§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he has taken to relocate staff in(a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible to the regions of the United Kingdom with the highest levels of unemployment; and what plans he has further to decentralise the location of his Department and its agencies. [70459]
§ Angela EagleOver many years this Department has had a policy of locating offices in the regions of the United Kingdom with the highest levels of unemployment. The Benefits Agency has relocated work from London to three processing centres in Glasgow, Makerfield and Belfast; and when the Child Support Agency was set up, its six processing centres were located in areas of high unemployment.
There are no immediate plans for further decentralisation.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the total number of staff(a) in his Department and (b) in each of the agencies for which he is responsible and their location in (i) London, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) each of the English regions. [70473]
§ Mr. TimmsThe information is available in the "Civil Service Statistics 1998", which is placed in the Library of the House.