HC Deb 25 July 1990 vol 177 cc311-2W
Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of claims for each of the last 12 months made to the Department of Social Security, Fylde.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

The number of claims for family credit received by the family credit unit at North Fyide central office is in the table:

Claims
1989
July 66,075
August 62,397
September 80,792
October 80,670
November 85,530
December 70,996
1990
January 78,122
February 76,049
March 89,088
April 77,080
May 93,310
June 70,101

Notes:

1. The figures are for the 4 or 5 weeks ending on the last Friday of the month.

2. The figures for claims received include those made to renew existing awards and those made more than 4 weeks before the expiry of an existing award (and therefore invalid.)

Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the current staffing establishment at Fylde, Blackpool, to deal with family credit claims.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

The current staffing complement at North Fylde central office to deal with family credit claims is 779. An additional 33 staff years are available to assist in handling claims in periods of high activity.

Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of(a) filled posts, and (b) unfilled posts, for each of the last 12 months, dealing with family credit at Fylde, Blackpool; and if he will make a statement on staffing requirements to deal with family credit applications by the Fylde office at Blackpool.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

Information about filled and unfilled posts is not available in the form requested. The allocation of staff years and expenditure against allocation in the last 12 months is in the table:

Budget (staff years) Expenditure (staff years)
1989
July 69.50 74.17
August 69.25 72.60
September 67.83 68.84
October 67.58 67.32
November 67.58 67.32
December 67.00 71.80
1990
January 66.50 70.51
February 66.50 66.89
March 66.50 66.83
April 64.92 63.56
May 64.92 64.02
June 64.92 65.69

Months where expenditure exceeded budget reflect the injection of additional resources in the light of the work load situation at the time.

The present complement of 779 was set for 1990–91 following a staff inspection to ascertain correct staffing levels against anticipated work load. An additional 33 staff years were allocated for use during periods of high activity.

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