§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what provision he has made for the increase in his Department's services to address London's projected population increase; and what plans he has put in place to deal with the employment needs for the population increase. [163407]
§ Mr. BrowneThe Department for Work and Pensions has standards of service for each person receiving benefits or pensions and the Department's business plans ensure that there are sufficient staff and resource to deliver these standards of service.
Such planning will, of course, take account of the size of the London population. It will also need to take account of the proportion of people claiming benefits and pensions. For example, between May 1997 and May 2003 the numbers claiming working age benefits in London has fallen from 830,000 to 691,000 and the proportion of the population from 18.8 per cent. to 14.7 per cent.
At the time of the pre-Budget report 2003 DWP together with the Treasury published a report "Full Employment in Every Region". This examined the employment situation in all regions including London and set out the how labour market policy is developing to deal with London's employment needs.