§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many members of the Department of Social Security staff have been seconded from the Correspondence Section based at Quarry Bank, Leeds, to Scottish and Welsh administrations for training purposes; what is the length of their secondment; and what is the current backlog of correspondence from Members of Parliament and members of the public awaiting replies. [HL677]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)This is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the noble Countess.
26WALetter to the Countess of Mar from the Working Age Services Director of the Benefits Agency, Mr Alexis Cleveland, dated 1 February 2000.
The Secretary of State has asked Peter Mathison to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about how many members of the Department of Social Security staff have been seconded from the Correspondence Section based at Quarry Bank, Leeds, to Scottish and Welsh administrations for training purposes; what is the length of their secondment; and what is the current backlog of correspondence from Members of Parliament and members of the public awaiting replies. As he is unavailable due to annual leave, I am replying.
The Benefits Agency (BA) Parliamentary Correspondence Unit based in Quarry House, Leeds, has not seconded any members of staff to the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly administrations.
However, the BA Parliamentary Correspondence Unit based in Leeds was responsible for helping to establish new units based respectively in Edinburgh and Cardiff to deal with correspondence originating from Scottish and Welsh administration.
Experienced staff from Quarry House have spent around four weeks in Edinburgh and Cardiff training staff in the new units. Both units are now fully operational and working closely with us to help clear the arrears.
There is currently a backlog of 382 cases.
A recovery action plan has been drawn up. Additional resources have been drafted in from other parts of the Agency to clear all outstanding areas within the next six weeks.
I hope this is helpful.