§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many(a) physical and (b) nonphysical assaults there have been on staff in the (i) Employment Service, (ii) Benefits Agency and
Physical and Non-Physical Assaults 2001–2003 2001 2002 20033 Physical contact Verbal abuse Physical contact Verbal abuse Physical contact Verbal abuse ES Offices 222 3,637 44 1,026 — — BA Offices 135 4,910 34 1,128 — — Pathfinder Offices1 1 108 2 171 — — Jobcentre Plus 2 — — 207 4,299 188 5,648 1 Pathfinder Offices commenced on 1 October 2001. 2 Jobcentre Plus was launched April 2002. All sites were Jobcentre Plus sites from that date. 3 Data reported for 2003 is up to and including 28 November. Source:
Occupational Health and Safety Division
Physical contact is when a customer directly touches a member of staff with or without an object. It includes striking, pushing, spitting and throwing of objects—large or small. Non-physical contact mainly involves verbal abuse but can include throwing of objects that miss or hit screens.
Historically there has been under-reporting of incidents. Increased awareness of Health and Safety and encouragement by management and trade unions to report incidents have contributed to the increased number of incidents being notified.
Information on prosecutions and penalties since Jobcentre Plus came into existence is shown in the table below. We do not have information available for 2001. Data on penalties indicates the number of banning orders imposed on customers who have a history of behaving in an unacceptable manner. Banning orders prevent these customers from entering any Jobcentre Plus premises.
Prosecutions Penalties 2002 1 430 2003 1 600 Source:
Occupational Health and Safety Division
I hope this is helpful.