Benefits Agency (Scottish Parliamentary Liaison Unit) (Hansard, 27 November 2001)

§ Mr. Nicholas Brown

This is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Angus Robertson, dated 26 November 2001: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking how many cases have been referred by Members of the Scottish Parliament to the Scottish Parliamentary Liaison Unit of the Benefits Agency (a) directly and (b) indirectly, how many people are employed by the Scottish parliamentary Liaison Unit of the UK Benefits Agency; and at what cost so far. Also, how many Benefits Agency issues received by the Scottish Parliamentary Liaison Unit have been resolved by the Scottish Parliamentary Liaison Unit. The Benefits Agency Scottish Parliamentary Relations Unit (SPRU) deals with all parliamentary correspondence of an operational nature from MPs, MSPs and MEPs relating to constituents in Scotland. There are seven members of staff currently employed in SPRU. The unit was set up in August 1999 and has an average annual salary cost of £217,000. Information on the number of draft replies to letters from MPs, which were originally referred to the MP by a Member of the Scottish Parliament, is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. SPRU has drafted 29 replies to letters directly from Members of the Scottish Parliament since 1 October 2000. 827W SPRU received 447 items of correspondence between 1 April 2001 and 31 October 2001. There were 50 items outstanding prior to this. Of the total 497 outstanding, 458 draft replies were completed in this period, and 39 items remained outstanding on 1 November 2001. I hope this is helpful.