§ Mr. Nicholas Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the ratio of staff to work load in his Department's offices at Saxon house, East Newcastle and the Green, Wallsend, by year over the past 10 years; and if he will give the total staffing figures for the past 10 years, by year, and the annual number of claimants.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe Departmental local office complementing system — a guide to which is in the Library—provides for the determination of local office complements, that is the number of staff required to deal with the estimated continuing work load, and their adjustment as work load levels change.
I regret that statistics in the form requested on the number of claimants over the last 10 years at the local offices mentioned could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. In addition, comparison between numbers of staff and claimants would be misleading as workloads vary considerably by type and duration of claim and the action that has to be taken. All these factors vary over time and as a result of legislative, policy and procedural changes.