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9 Oct 2006 : Column 19W—continued

9 Oct 2006 : Column 20W

New deal for lone parents
Participants in each quarter
	Total	First-time	Repeat
January to March 2003	89,160	64,550	24,610
April to June 2003	90,360	63,860	26,500
July to September 2003	95,890	66,650	29,240
October to December 2003	94,390	64,750	29,640
January to March 2004	100,170	66,750	33,420
April to June 2004	94,160	61,730	32,430
July to September 2004	89,720	57,400	32,320
October to December 2004	83,850	52,410	31,440
January to March 2005	83,830	50,350	33,480
April to June 2005	78,720	46,360	32,360
July to September 2005	76,480	43,970	32,510
October to December 2005	71,370	40,810	30,560

New deal 50 plus
Participants in each quarter
	Total	First-time	Repeat
January to March 2004	11,290	11,290	0
April to June 2004	18,360	18,330	30
July to September 2004	26,340	26,270	70
October to December 2004	32,540	32,420	120
January to March 2005	38,280	38,060	220
April to June 2005	42,970	42,620	350
July to September 2005	46,820	46,350	470
October to December 2005	50,250	49,640	610

New deal for disabled people
Participants in each quarter
	Total	First-time	Repeat
January to March 2003	39,570	37,510	2,060
April to June 2003	45,040	42,630	2,410
July to September 2003	51,780	48,880	2,900
October to December 2003	55,890	52,630	3,260
January to March 2004	62,810	58,930	3,880
April to June 2004	72,110	67,110	5,000
July to September 2004	82,780	76,660	6,120
October to December 2004	89,830	82,720	7,110
January to March 2005	98,450	90,220	8,230
April to June 2005	106,970	97,640	9,330
July to September 2005	116,120	105,700	10,420
October to December 2005	123,490	112,110	11,380

New deal for partners
Participants in each quarter
	Total	First-time	Repeat
April to June 2004	530	530	0
July to September 2004	1,140	1,140	0
October to December 2004	1,600	1,590	10
January to March 2005	2,110	2,100	10
April to June 2005	2,510	2,480	30
July to September 2005	2,640	2,610	30
October to December 2005	2,720	2,700	20
Notes 1. Latest complete calendar year data are to December 2005. 2. People are included in the tables as participating in a particular quarter if they are recorded as participating at any point in that quarter. People participating on the programme in more than one quarter are included in the tables in each relevant quarter. 3. Earliest available data for new deal for partners is April 2004. 4. Earliest available data for new deal 50 plus is January 2004. Source: DWP Information Directorate.

Office Closures

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of the offices of his Department and its agencies (a) have closed over the last three years and (b) are planned for closure by 2008. [90671]

9 Oct 2006 : Column 21W

Mrs. McGuire: The Department continually evaluates the services it provides and the offices that are required to meet its changing structure in order to deliver a better and more efficient service to customers. As part of the rationalisation of accommodation over the last three years, there has been one DWP Head Office closure in London, two in the Yorkshire and the Humber Government office region and one in the north-east Government office region. One closure is planned in London, five in the Yorkshire and the Humber Government office region, two in the north- west Government office region and three in the north- east Government region. Details have been placed in the Library.

Both Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service are transforming and modernising the services they offer, making them more readily available through the telephone and the internet. Details of Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service office closures have also been placed in the Library.

The Child Support Agency closed its Basingstoke Satellite Processing Centre in December 2005. The agency also intends to relinquish the Clitheroe and Blackburn Filestores on 1 October 2006.

The Disability and Carers’ Service closed the Sutton Disability Benefit Centre on 31 December 2005 and will also withdraw from the Disability Benefits Centre at Arden House, Newcastle, by 31 December 2006, with work from both offices being transferred to other existing Disability and Carers’ Service units.

Pension Credit

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people took up pension credit in East Dunbartonshire in (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006. [89978]

James Purnell: The number of households in receipt of pension credit in East Dumbartonshire at February in each of the years requested is in the following table.

Date	Household Recipients
February 2004	2,000
February 2005	2,320
February 2006	2.470
Notes: 1. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the 2005 postcode directory and are therefore based on the 2005 parliamentary boundaries. 3. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP 100 per cent. Department for Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are claiming pension credit in East Dunbartonshire. [89979]

James Purnell: The most recent number of households receiving pension credit in the East Dunbartonshire constituency are in the following table.

9 Oct 2006 : Column 22W

Date	Household Recipients
May 2006	2,460
Notes: 1. These figures are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures which are taken from the GMS scan at 26th May 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure. 2. Caseloads are rounded to the nearest 10. 3 Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. 4. Household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves only or on behalf of a household. Source: DWP 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (CMS) Pension Credit scan taken as at 26th May 2006.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the average time taken to process applications for pension credit in each year since its introduction. [90468]

James Purnell: The average time taken to process applications for pension credit in each year since its introduction is detailed in the following table.

Year end	Average actual clearance time
2003-04	12.31 days
2004-05	10.30 days
2005-06	8.74 days

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering pension credit in each year since its introduction. [90474]

James Purnell: The information requested is not available.

I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 18 April 2006, Official Report, column 431W.

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