§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is his annual budget for running job shops in England; how many staff are employed; and how many of the premises are owned by his Department or leased by it and at what annual cost.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 3 February 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the annual cost of running Jobcentres in England, the number of staff employed and how many offices are owned or leased.
The annual budget provided for running the Employment Service (ES) Local Offices' in England for 1993–94 was some £729 million, which includes premises operating costs of £122 million.
The ES employs around 43,000 staff in 1,021 offices in England. Of these buildings 607 are Departmental Estate properties, administered by the ES, and 414 are Common User Estate properties, administered by Property Holdings.
I hope this is helpful.