HC Deb 13 February 1997 vol 290 cc272-3W
Mr. Harvey

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many recipients there are of the jobseeker's allowance in(a) north Devon and (b) Devon; and how many of these are aged under 25 years. [15092]

Mr. Roger Evans

The administration of jobseeker's allowance 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. Nick Harvey, dated 12 February 1997: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many recipients there are of the Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in (a) North Devon; and (b) Devon; and how many of these are aged under 25 years. The information is not available in the format requested. JSA payments are currently made via two computer systems, the JSA computer system (JSAPS) and the National Unemployment Benefit computer system (NUBS). It is expected that all JSA payments will be transferred on to and paid by the JSAPS by December 1997. Statistics are not kept by customer age group. The available information is in the attached table. I hope you find this reply helpful.

Number of recipients of jobseeker's allowance (JSA)
JSA paid via the National Unemployment Benefit computer system (NUBS) during week commencing 24 January 1997 and 31 January 1997 JSA paid via the JSA computer system as at the end of November 1996
North Devon1 2,725 3,031
Devon2 19,487 4,977
1 North Devon includes: the Benefits Agency (BA) offices of Barnstaple, Exeter and Newton Abbot; and the Employment Service (ES) offices of Bude, Barnstaple, Bideford and Ilfracombe.
2 Devon includes: the BA offices of Barnstaple, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Plymouth Crownhill, Plymouth Durley, Saltash and Torbay; and the ES offices of Bude, Barnstaple, Bideford, Ilfracombe, Axminster, Exeter, Exmouth, Honiton, Okehampton, Sidmouth, Tiverton, Brixham, Newton Abbot, Paignton, Teignmouth, Torquay, Totnes, Buckwell, Devonport, Hoegate, Plympton, Saltash and Tavistock.

The BA information has been provided by the Central Data Unit. The NUBS information has been provided by the South West Region's Employment Intelligence Unit. Data is subject to amendment.