§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many district information officers are or were employed by the Benefits Agency(a) at present and (b) one year ago by region. [32703]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThis is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Chris Smith, dated 17 June 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many District Information officers are or were employed by the Benefits Agency (a) at present and (b) one year ago by region.The information is not available in the format requested. With the creation of the Benefits Agency in 1991 former regions were grouped into Area and Territorial Directorates.The attached Annex give details of the number of District Information Officers for each Area Directorate. Some of these officers may combine other duties with their role of information officers.I hope you find this reply helpful.
District information officers Area directorate Number as at 31 May 1995 Number as at 31 May 1996 East London and Anglia 25 20 Chilterns 25 11 London South 39 27 West Country 22 18 Mercia 20 13 West Midlands 21 12 Wales 15 13 North West Coast 26 19 Greater Manchester 25 18 Yorkshire 21 13 Tyne Tees 21 15 West of Scotland 20 11 East of Scotland 28 14 Figures are provisional and subject to amendment.