DWP Central Freedom of Information Team

e-mail: [DWP request email]

Our Ref: VTR384

13 March 2009

Dear Wren,

Freedom of Information Request - VTR 384

I am now in a position to answer your request for information received on 3 March 2009.

You asked for:

Section 21 of the Act allows us to direct you to information which is already reasonably accessible to you. The Department publishes a wide range of statistics on benefit claimants and expenditure on its website www.dwp.gov.uk and on the Nomis website www.nomisweb.co.uk , which is the Office for National Statistics' official website of labour market statistics.

Benefit expenditure tables are published at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit reductions and loss of taxes due to unemployment are not within DWPs remit: loss of taxes would be a matter for HM Revenue and Customs and HM Treasury, and the cost to public purse in terms of Housing Benefit and Council Tax reductions would be a matter for Local Authorities and HM Treasury.

If you are interested in benefit and pension rates paid to individual claimants, they are listed in a leaflet available on the Jobcentre Plus website - see www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/.

The DWP Departmental Report www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2008/dr08/ includes information on the cost of administering the benefit system. These are in Table 2 and Table 5 of the Annex.

Statistics on the average amounts in payment to claimants for various benefits are also published on the Department's website through the Tabulation Tool (www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp ),and the Nomis website both of which allow you to construct your own tables. The average (median) length of a spell on Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) can also be obtained from Nomis.

For example, to produce statistics on median spells on JSA go to www.nomisweb.co.uk.

Select Advanced Query in the Detailed Statistics panel.

Select the dataset Claimant Count then claimant count flows - age and duration.

In the Options panel on the left, make your choices to construct the table you require.

In this case, you will need to at a minimum make a selection for Geography, Age/Duration (select individual age and duration bands then total if you do not require an age or duration breakdown), date and median (select median).

Click on Download data to prooduce your table.

If you are not satisfied with my handling of your request please tell me why within two calendar months of the date of this letter. I will then arrange for someone to conduct an internal review of your request and my handling/decision. The review will be conducted by another officer, usually of a more senior grade to myself. This person will have taken no part in my original decision. You will be advised of their decision in writing.

If you are still not content with the outcome of the internal review you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner to look into the way your request has been handled. Please note that generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first exhausted DWP's own complaints procedure. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

FoI Complaints Resolution

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Fax: 01625 545 510

email:[email address]

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

DWP Central FoI Team