§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment, if he will provide details for each region of the average time between a new claimant's availability for work being queried and a decision being made by an adjudication officer.
§ Mr. LeeInformation is not available in the precise form requested. However, the speed with which adjudication officers make decisions (that is, the time between their receiving a referral and reaching a decision) is monitored in a 5 per cent. sample of cases. The sample shows that, for the three-month period ending 31 December 1987, the percentage of all availability questions (on both new and existing claims and including decisions on availability during holidays) decided within four weeks of referral to an adjudication officer, for each employment service region, was as follows:—
Availability Restricted Availability Per cent. Per cent. London and South East 81.8 81.8 Northern 98.5 98.6 Yorkshire and Humberside 95.5 96.3 South West 89.6 85.1 Wales 82.9 97.2 East Midlands 85.3 91.1 West Midlands 76.2 78.3 North West 92.0 98.0 Scotland 74.9 93.3