§ Mr. Hancockask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost is of running two systems side by side during the Jobcentre Plus rollout in(a)Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and (b) the South East region.[151536]
§ Mr. PondThe administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Hancock, dated 25 February 2004:
As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply direct to your question concerning the cost implications of running two systems side by side during the rollout of Jobcentre Plus, in the South East. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
The development of Jobcentre Plus is building on the high quality service already provided by social security offices and Jobcentres by delivering a single, integrated service to all people of working age, with a clear focus on work. It is a huge undertaking involving some 1,500 offices across the country. We have to make sure that our customers can continue to receive advice on work and benefits. Therefore we need to stagger the roll-out of the new service over a number of years. Throughout the period of national roll-out social security offices and Jobcentres will be working together to ensure that customers will still benefit from the excellent service we offer.
Our plans for the roll out aim to ensure that the old services are replaced by the new services and that therefore there is no need to operate them side by side in any location. In fact as the roll out progresses we are looking to rationalise our estate and realise savings through a "merger dividend".
This is one of the largest change programmes ever and given its size, we are bringing in changes across the four-year period 2002–06. This means, of course, within the South East region and the other regions/countries, we will have to run new services alongside old style services for this transitional period.
Full details of the financial allocation for the roll out of Jobcentre Plus are available in the Departmental report (CM5921) a copy of which is in the library.
I hope this is helpful.