§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what extra funding his Department has given to the Benefits Agency in Somerset for the implementation of the ONE pilot. [110462]
786W
§ Angela EagleONE is a new initiative designed to bring together the services offered by the Benefits Agency, the Employment Service and local authority benefit departments in one place and provide help to all working-age clients in returning to employment. ONE is currently being piloted in 12 areas of the country.
The additional funding given to the Benefits Agency to implement the ONE pilot in Somerset during the 1999–2000 operational year was £283,285.
This covered local implementation costs, staffing and management of the ONE service and the cost of covering the duties of staff undertaking training for ONE delivery. The total of additional resource available for these activities in the Somerset pilot, that is including the amounts made available to the Employment Service and Local Authorities, was £588,669, so the Benefits Agency received 48 per cent. of the total.
Local implementation and delivery money was only part of the additional resource provided. Somerset also benefited from centrally managed funds, such as estates adaptations and information technology improvements. The contract for call centre telephony, which the Somerset pilot is testing, was also funded centrally. There is no breakdown by pilot area available for these centrally managed resources.