§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what proportion of jobcentres displayed local targets as at July 1993 on(a) waiting times, (b) telephone answering, (c) promptness and accuracy in benefit payments and (d) information on local labour markets; and in how many cases these targets were being met;
(2) what proportion of jobcentres displayed at July 1993 (a) the name of the local manager and (b) the name of the area manager.
§ 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. Hugh Bayley dated 9 February 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about how many Employment Service local offices displayed standards and targets, how many local offices met the standards, and how many local offices displayed the name and address of the local manager and area manager in July 1993.The Jobseeker's Charter sets out our aim for our local offices (1,300 July 1993) to display standards of service. Between July and September 1993, 92 per cent. of local offices displayed standards and targets.The information you have asked for is as follows:
WAITING TIME:
Clients waiting no longer than the 10 minutes standard: 1,170 offices; 90 per cent.
TELEPHONE ANSWERING TIME:
Calls answered within the 30 seconds standard: 1,170 offices; 90 per cent.
PROMPTNESS OF PAYMENTS:
98 per cent. of payments were made on time; on accuracy of payments of benefit you will wish to know that in the quarter July to September 1993 96.9 per cent. of payments were accurate. This is against a national target of 96.5 per cent.
LOCAL LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION:
Each local office has a target for the number of vacancies and number of placings they must achieve. We do not collect information about how many offices reach their target, but nationally, in the first six months of the operating year 1993–94, we placed over 859,000 people. This is 10 per cent. above our profiled target for this period.Turning to your second question, this information is not available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate 290W cost. However, I can assure you that all our local offices have been instructed to display the name and address of the local area managers.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of people attending jobcentres for advisory interviews in July 1993 saw the same person as they saw on their previous visit.
§ 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. Hugh Bayley, dated 9 February 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about what proportion of people attending advisory interviews in July 1993 were seen by the same person as they saw on their previous visit.Unfortunately this information is not available in the form you request it. My local offices now deliver advisory interviews through teams of five or six people who focus their activities on particular sections of the unemployed register. This allows more continuity of contact to make sure the service we offer our clients is structured and co-ordinated.When they attend for an interview, clients are seen by someone from the same team and, wherever possible, by the same person.We do not collect statistics about what proportion are seen by the same person. However, I can assure you that we do believe that the arrangements we have in place represent the best available levels of service and that we are continually looking for further improvements.I hope this is helpful.