The Department of Labor and Pensions has been hired to close dozens of offices, and workers were called to a briefing this morning because 1,300 faces have no local alternative office to relocate to.
Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
DWP leaders plan to close 41 offices, with unions warning “thousands” of jobs are at risk.
Thousands of employees were called to meetings today at 10.30am to report a major rift in the Department of Employment and Pensions.
Of the 41 offices, it is understood that 13 will be closed with “no other strategic site in the area” to relocate its 1,300 workers. They could lose their jobs or be shunted to another government department.
Another 28 offices will be closed with their 12,000 workers having to relocate to another area.
DWP leaders have been in talks to close some offices for years. But MPs are figuring out how many of the closures and key parts of northern England are, from Blackburn and Bradford to Washington and Stockton-on-Tees.
Shadow DWP Minister Justin Madders said: “It looks like if the DWP does not believe in a level, it does not believe in its own rhetoric about jobs, and it does not believe in keeping people at work.
“Many of the closures are in areas of economic deprivation that can hardly afford to lose good quality in public sector jobs.”
The offices are not job centers and Minister David Rutley insisted that only “back of house” staff would be affected. Some of the sites also have job centers on the same site.
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Picture:
PA Archive / Press Association Biller)
DWP Minister David Rutley argued that parts of DWP real estate were not fit for purpose. He insisted that the “vast majority” of employees “could be relocated very close to their current facility”.
He added: “We are not reducing staff numbers – the focus is on keeping as many people as possible. We have great staff, we want to keep them.”
But asked by Labor to rule out dismissals, he did not.
Mr Madders said: “The PCS union has said its members are facing spiraling workloads, so it is not the case that the department actually needs more staff, not less?”
SNP Labor and Employment Spokesman Chris Stephens said: “Can the Minister confirm that the announcement could put 3,000 jobs at risk of redundancies?” He also claimed that the DWP was “looking to close offices in high economic deprivation areas”, which is “counterintuitive to the so-called leveling-up agenda”.
Minister Rutley also faced outrage after being dragged to the Commons to reveal details of the closures as part of an urgent question by SNP MP Chris Stephens.
The ministers only wanted to contact deputies in the constituencies concerned at 1pm and make a written statement tomorrow.
The Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents many DWP staff, said 1,188 jobs were threatened if 13 sites were closed.
It said 7,092 further staff members risk redundancy if the remaining premises are transferred to other premises by June 2023.
A further eight offices, previously planned for closure, will be kept for the time being.
Mr Rutley said plans would span the next three years, and over the next decade “the department will move to a property that is smaller, greener and better”. He added: “These plans do not affect our JobcentrePlus and client-facing roles.”
Labor MP Grahame Morris said: “How will the closure of a DWP office in my constituency, which employs 390 people, help Easington maintain a level when the government moves jobs to the biggest cities?”
Labor and Retirement Secretary Therese Coffey said after Covid’s eruption: “Our extraordinary civil servants, however, have risen to the challenges of this infinite time ahead.
“I know we can all rely on them to deliver as we rebuild and renew Britain.”
PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The government was quick to beat the civil servants at the beginning of the pandemic; they are even quicker to screw them up now that they have declared the pandemic.”
Minister Rutley accused the PCS of publishing the information ahead of schedule.
He looked at his watch as he told deputies – just after 10.30am – “I am not able to go into every detail this morning because we are currently lettering to concerned colleagues while we speak.
“Delivery of the first stage of this strategy will be announced to concerned colleagues today at 10.30am – right now.”
But SNP MP Peter Grant has accused ministers of trying to do so in a written statement on Friday when most MPs went back to their constituencies.
A Tory MP also tried to raise doubts about the motivation of SNP MP Chris Stephens, who dragged ministers to the Commons for details.
Ex-minister Andrew Murrison sought “guidance on whether it is appropriate for a member who has taken very substantial donations from a union to then ask an urgent question about something that is of direct interest to the union.”
Mr Stephens, who is chairman of the PCS parliamentary group and has registered donations for the group’s administration and coordination ‘, stated his interest in the Chamber.
A government spokesman said: “As part of plans to improve the services we provide to claimants, help more people into work and modernize public services, DWP is moving some back office staff to better, greener offices. , which does not affect the public face.Roles.
“This is not a plan to reduce our staff – if possible, our colleagues in the offices will be offered opportunities due to closure to be relocated to a nearby site, or to be relocated to a new role in the DWP or another government department. We make every effort to fully support our staff through this process.
Separately to today’s announcement, 12,000 Universal Credit advisers hired to create Britain’s largest ever Jobs Army have been said to be applying for their own jobs as their temporary contracts expire.
- This story was updated from 42 offices to 41 after Bootle Redgrave Court wrongly included.
Close sites with no alternative
- Aberdeen, Ebury House
- Barrow to Furness, Phoenix House
- Bishop Auckland, Vinovium House
- Blackburn, Cardwell Place
- Bury St Edmunds, St Andrews House
- Chippenham, St Pauls House
- Exeter, Clarendon House
- Gravesend, The Grove
- Kirkcaldy, Victoria Road
- Milton Keynes, Southgate House
- Peterborough, Bridge Street
- Southampton, St Cross House
- Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley, Stafford Street
Close sites, alternatively offered
- Bathgate, Whitburn Road
- Birkenhead, Hordan House
- Bradford, Leeds Road
- Burnley, Brown House
- Chesterfield
- Doncaster, Crossgate House
- Dundee, Lindsay House
- Falkirk, Callendar Gate
- Glasgow, Clydebank, Radnor House
- Glasgow, Springburn
- Gloucester, Cedar House
- Liverpool, Belle Vale, Childwall Valley Road
- London Hackney, Sylvester Road
- London Stratford, Jubilee House
- Manchester Chorlton, Graeme House
- Nuneaton, Discovery House
- Oldham, Phoenix House
- Preston, the Guild Center
- Rotherham, Dearne Valley, Discovery House
- Seaham, Lighthouse View
- Southend-on-Sea, Kingswood House
- St Helens, Gregson House
- Stirling, St Ninians Road
- Stockton-on-Tees, Tees Building
- Walsall, Government Buildings
- Warrington, Hilden House
- Washington, Durham House
- Wellingborough, Lothersdale House
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