§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of creating(a) Jobcentre Plus and (b) the Pension Service; and if he will make a statement. [47630]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownJobcentre Plus as an organisation came into being on 1 April 2002, replacing the Employment Service and the working age parts of the Benefits Agency. In 56 pathfinder offices across Great Britain it is already helping people get and keep work through providing integrated work-focused services to customers and employers. This new service will be introduced across the whole network over the next few years and at the same time the IT systems which support the business will be improved. The cost of this investment in a modernised, work-focused service will be funded over the next two years from the Employment Opportunities Fund which was established in Spending Review 2000, and thereafter from the outcome of the Spending Review 2002 process. The discussions about the spending review will continue until it concludes in the summer.
The Pension Service also came into being on 1 April 2002, replacing the pension elements of the Benefits Agency. Like Jobcentre Plus it has been established as part of a wider agenda for modernising the delivery of benefits around the needs of customer groups. The investment needed to move towards single transaction technology and planned new services to increase efficiency and accuracy is being funded from the Welfare Modernisation Fund, but as with Jobcentre Plus final figures are dependent on the outcome of Spending Review 2002.