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support in order to improve the care they are giving. Thank you. Order, | :00:00. | :00:11. | |
urgent question. Margaret Greenwood. Secretary of State for Work and | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
Pensions for his plans to close job offices and the impact it will have. | :00:17. | :00:21. | |
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
Yesterday's announcement confirmed the proposals that were published in | :00:27. | :00:30. | |
January. These changes will mean that the DWP will be offered a more | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
efficient servers while delivering good value for the taxpayer, saving | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
over ?140 million per year for the next ten years. Eight out of ten | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
claims for job-seeker allowance and 99% of applications are now made on | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
line. This means that the DWP buildings are used much less, with | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
20% of the estate currently under utilised. Our estate plans must | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
reflect the way customers interact with the GW P now and in the future, | :00:59. | :01:04. | |
not the past. I can assure the House that these changes will not lead to | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
reduction to the number of staff. To continue improving the service | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
provided to its customers, job centres are actively recruiting in | :01:16. | :01:18. | |
many areas. These changes are being made in consultation with the DWP | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
employees and their trade unions. This will ensure the important | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
connections that job centre staff have available committee are | :01:28. | :01:30. | |
preserved and customer services can be maintained. DWP PFI contract | :01:31. | :01:39. | |
expires next month and this gives us an opportunity to review how we | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
deliver our services. We have sought to rationalise our estate anyway | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
that delivers value for the taxpayer and makes best use of the safe | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
available, whilst continuing to deliver vital support our claimants | :01:52. | :01:54. | |
and enabling delivery of our reform agenda. Thank you. You will recall | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
that in December last year the Government announced they were | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
planning to close half of the job centres and Glasgow. In January, | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
they set up plans further closures. One in ten job centres across the | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
UK. This has the potential of the loss of 750 jobs. Yesterday the | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
Department for Work and Pensions of data. Six of the original job | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
centres earmarked for closure will remain open and two additional job | :02:24. | :02:31. | |
centres that were to stay open, are added to the list. The impact of the | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
closures will be felt by the purest and most honourable in our society. | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
By causing such a large estate, the Government would be forcing | :02:41. | :02:42. | |
claimants to travel further to access the vital services that they | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
need. Impacting on the lives of sick and disabled people, carers and | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
parents of young children. Will the Minister committed now published its | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
the quality analysis for each site being closed. That is a secret and | :02:57. | :02:59. | |
to be made public. 1 million claimants in work deserves a process | :03:00. | :03:07. | |
where people may be required to attend job centres. What assess has | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
a made on the demand for job centre services as a result of increased in | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
work conditionality? The decision to close job centres on the scale at | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
the same time of accelerating the role out of Universal Credit makes | :03:23. | :03:26. | |
no sense. It is not good enough to quote figures about online claims to | :03:27. | :03:29. | |
justify closure plans. Universal Credit will place other demands on | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
staff who will have to assess whether self-employed people | :03:34. | :03:36. | |
claiming Universal Credit have a viable business plan. What | :03:37. | :03:39. | |
assessment has me made about the increased demand placed on job | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
centre staff as a result of the roll out of Universal Credit. The | :03:44. | :03:46. | |
closures will have an impact of jobs. With the outline a number of | :03:47. | :03:52. | |
jobs that will be lost in front-line staff and also in the corporate | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
centre sites as a result of the new hub strategy, the corporate centre. | :03:58. | :04:00. | |
The Government must immediately posit these closures to allow proper | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
scrutiny of their plans. I will begin with the first point she makes | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
which is about job centre plus staff. The reality is that in every | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
nation and region, there will be an increase in the number of job centre | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
staff from the beginning of this process to the end of this process. | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
Job numbers are going up here as we roll out Universal Credit. She talks | :04:29. | :04:36. | |
about 750 job losses. Only a small minority of those are likely to be | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
redundancies within front line job centre staff. This is in a period, | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
she asks how many, I think the range we're looking at is 80 to 100 or so. | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
I do not want to be too precise on that. That is the number we are | :04:52. | :04:54. | |
looking at at a maximum and we hope to bring that down. The fact is that | :04:55. | :05:02. | |
in terms of these reforms, they are done in a way that takes into | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
account the changes in the welfare system. The rolling out of the | :05:07. | :05:12. | |
Universal Credit service. It is absolutely right that we make use of | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
the fact that it is the end of a contract, we have an opportunity to | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
find savings, this is taxpayer 's money that we are talking about and | :05:21. | :05:27. | |
what we want to do is find savings in DWP's state budget and at the | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
same time, provide modular and up-to-date job centres that revived | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
the service that is needed. -- provide modular in. I am | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
disappointed that the party opposite are going to be standing against the | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
careful and sensible use of public money, which is exactly what the are | :05:45. | :05:52. | |
delivering. Thank you. In these difficult times, with my honourable | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
friend praised challah job centre that is a huge amount to support and | :05:56. | :06:02. | |
encourage apprenticeships. -- Harlow. Will you make sure the job | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
centres to everything to imply apprenticeships and encourage | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
employers to have apprenticeships themselves. My right honourable | :06:11. | :06:16. | |
friend makes a very good point. He is a great champion for apprentices | :06:17. | :06:24. | |
and apprenticeships. It is the case that we want to encourage that as | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
much as possible and DWP and job centres are indeed doing that across | :06:30. | :06:36. | |
the country. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Compassionate conservatism lasted | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
two days. They should have been an oral statement and a vote on this | :06:43. | :06:47. | |
house on this issue. Does the Secretary of State accept there is a | :06:48. | :06:50. | |
direct link with deprivation and those job centres earmarked for | :06:51. | :06:57. | |
closure? Will he published an impact assessment, on the effects of those | :06:58. | :07:00. | |
with disabilities and caring responsibilities? What engagement | :07:01. | :07:06. | |
has taken place with devolved administrations across the UK? And | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
what will be the effect of the roll out of Universal Credit, given that | :07:10. | :07:12. | |
some of the job centres earmarked for closure have published by his | :07:13. | :07:21. | |
department? Can I just make the point to the honourable gentleman | :07:22. | :07:30. | |
that when a comes to job centres and reforms, it was touched on by the | :07:31. | :07:34. | |
honourable lady in her earlier remarks talking about Glasgow, it | :07:35. | :07:39. | |
will be the case after these reforms have been completed where there will | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
be a reduction in the number of job centres in Glasgow. Glasgow will | :07:43. | :07:49. | |
still have more job centres per head of population than any other city in | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
the United Kingdom. It is also the case that a number of the Glasgow | :07:55. | :08:03. | |
job centres where underutilised. It is therefore sensible that the | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
rationalise this estate and can deliver modern services. In some | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
cases, what we need is much improved job centres with greater facilities | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
and capability of doing more things and that is exactly what the | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
strategy involves. As far as the equality impact assessment, it is | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
the case the Government has always fulfilled its obligations in terms | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
of the assessment that it has made of that. I would again make the | :08:33. | :08:38. | |
point, I hope the SNP are not going to stand against the sensible use of | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
Government estates to deliver public services in the most efficient and | :08:44. | :08:44. | |
cost-effective way. Rationalising the use of Department | :08:45. | :08:55. | |
for Work and Pensions property has to be a good thing and that is also | :08:56. | :09:01. | |
true in city which one sees like mine where there is no chance of it | :09:02. | :09:11. | |
closing but does he agree the issue is making sure we have the right | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
resources for the expanding roll-out of universal crabs which starts next | :09:17. | :09:23. | |
year. That is exactly right and it is important we have job centres | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
that can deal with a new and important role in terms of providing | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
the support claimants need having the work coaches in place, having | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
facilities and in some cases that requires new improved estates and we | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
should not be stuck on the footprint we had a few years ago as there is | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
now their chance to make those changes given the contract is coming | :09:49. | :10:01. | |
to an end. I'd just the office has 130 workers, many of whom can have a | :10:02. | :10:08. | |
career and be up parent because of its proximity to their home and | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
there are no nearby offices to relocate to, so can he paused the | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
closure and publish an impact assessment in what I believe is a | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
special case? In the case of the sites he mentions, there are sites | :10:26. | :10:32. | |
in Chesterfield and Mansfield which are within half an hour by car from | :10:33. | :10:45. | |
there. It is anticipated that at least 75%, probably more, of the | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
staff will be able to be redeployed to other sites and will not be in a | :10:49. | :10:57. | |
position whereby redundancy will be relevant and of course DWP is | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
seeking to ensure that number can be maximised. With this Secretary of | :11:03. | :11:10. | |
State agree with the importance of getting Jobcentre staff to work in | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
places outside job centres like food banks to make sure they are getting | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
the right welfare claims in the right way? There is an important | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
role in terms of outreach with job centre staff can and will perform | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
and it is not the case that all work is done within job centres | :11:31. | :11:37. | |
themselves, staff can provide outreach services in other sites, as | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
they will continue and increasingly do. Sutton is a pilot for universal | :11:42. | :11:50. | |
crabs and I support the principle but I think it is extremely complex | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
and is leaving some people completely unable to plan their | :11:55. | :11:58. | |
expenditure. When Universal Credit is ruled out more widely, how will | :11:59. | :12:04. | |
the Minister make sure those you cannot register claims online or | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
feel they have to go to the job centre because they cannot rely on | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
the post, how can he make sure they are not severely disadvantaged? It | :12:15. | :12:21. | |
is the case that 99% register for Universal Credit online and it is | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
also the case that those who were seeking work are expected to spend | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
up to 35 hours week searching for work and that includes time taken to | :12:34. | :12:42. | |
get to job centres. There are, in particular cases, those who were not | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
able to make it to visit a job centre, in which case other | :12:48. | :12:54. | |
arrangements can be made. This Secretary of State is a work I'm | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
unhappy about the closure of Shipley job centre. I have many questions | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
for him so perhaps my right honourable friend will meet with me, | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
but could he confirm that some of the outreach work will continue to | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
be delivered within the Shipley constituency, and can he also | :13:16. | :13:18. | |
guarantee that the staff can choose which other offers to work out which | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
may be closer to their home and so not all have to move to Bradford? In | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
terms of outreach work continuing, I have been given that as Terence, in | :13:31. | :13:37. | |
terms of staff, more generally, the WP will look to work with staff as | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
much as possible to accommodate their preferences. I know he has | :13:42. | :13:47. | |
already met the Minister for employment to discuss this matter | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
but he and I will have further conversations on this point in the | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
near future, knowing previous experience we will probably have | :13:58. | :14:04. | |
many such conversations. This Government seems obsessed with the | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
spreadsheet economy, to the detriment of communities who must | :14:10. | :14:13. | |
suffer the consequences of austerity, but our National Assembly | :14:14. | :14:19. | |
does not have control of your own services and so are vulnerable to | :14:20. | :14:25. | |
the closure of job centres. I urge this Secretary of State to reverse | :14:26. | :14:28. | |
these plan closures and I ask whether he would consider devolving | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
Jobcentre Plus functions to Wales. In terms of the employment record in | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
the last seven years, we have nearly 3 million people in work, youth | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
unemployment has fallen, the employment rate is high and | :14:45. | :14:51. | |
unemployment is at the lowest level since 1975, and some of the credit | :14:52. | :14:55. | |
has to go to the fact that in terms of what job centres are delivering | :14:56. | :15:02. | |
and in terms of our policies, have assisted on that, so if he is right | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
we continue to seek good value for money for the taxpayer and I don't | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
see any further move towards further devolution in this area. Could this | :15:14. | :15:21. | |
Secretary of State tell me what arrangements are being made to help | :15:22. | :15:26. | |
vulnerable claimants access job centres, thinking particularly of | :15:27. | :15:30. | |
rural areas so with help for trouble for example? My honourable friend | :15:31. | :15:40. | |
raises an important point and there are steps which we take to assist in | :15:41. | :15:47. | |
terms of more vulnerable claimants, in terms of being able to do visits | :15:48. | :15:54. | |
were necessary, in particular circumstances, so that will continue | :15:55. | :16:00. | |
but I think for those who can visit a job centre, it is right that we | :16:01. | :16:07. | |
require them to do so. Is the Minister are worthy when we embarked | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
upon the closure of finding jobs when the pets shot in Derbyshire, we | :16:13. | :16:21. | |
set out the mark unveil straight off the M1 and created several hundred | :16:22. | :16:29. | |
jobs in the process. That has not yet finished with the local | :16:30. | :16:32. | |
authorities concerned. The Bolsover job centre played a significant part | :16:33. | :16:39. | |
in ensuring those 700 jobs were available and as a result they need | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
to continue. We are enlarging the site to provide several hundred more | :16:46. | :16:52. | |
jobs. Surely it's not appropriate to be shutting the Bolsover job centre | :16:53. | :16:57. | |
that has played whenever some part in providing work for those miners | :16:58. | :17:03. | |
and their families who had lost their jobs, surely he should reverse | :17:04. | :17:10. | |
this. First can I express my thanks to the honourable member for his | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
recognition of the work that has been done to help those who had been | :17:15. | :17:24. | |
working, working miners, and I think I am confident in saying that | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
unemployment numbers have moved in the right direction in his | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
constituency in the last seven years, which may reflect the | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
changing political nature of his constituency, but in terms of the | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
Bolsover side, staff are moving to Staveley. It is the case that job | :17:45. | :17:54. | |
centres have a valuable role to play but it is right that we have those | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
modern facilities and that is what these plans involve delivering. I | :18:00. | :18:08. | |
would just like to say to my right honourable friend that we are having | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
this debate in the context of record employment and this is something we | :18:15. | :18:17. | |
should be welcome in on both sides of the House, the fact there were | :18:18. | :18:23. | |
fewer people unemployed than ever before and that has brought enormous | :18:24. | :18:30. | |
social benefits... If the honourable lady has a moment's patients, she | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
will see the question, the claimant count... Order. The honourable | :18:37. | :18:44. | |
gentleman does need to put a question, not in a moment but | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
straightaway because a lot of colleagues are waiting to | :18:49. | :18:52. | |
contribute. The honourable gentleman is new and must get used to it but I | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
want him to get to his question. The important thing is that we ensure | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
people have the support we need rather than be obsessed with bricks | :19:04. | :19:08. | |
and mortar. I agree that is the right point and the support people | :19:09. | :19:15. | |
need can often be better provided in well-equipped, modern, sometimes | :19:16. | :19:22. | |
larger job centres then using the estate that may have served us well | :19:23. | :19:29. | |
15 years ago but is now out of date. Sheffield's eastern Avenue job | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
centre is rooted in the community it serves. Its staff there understand | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
local people and can support them because of that. This Secretary of | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
State talks about an improved service that does seem not recognise | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
that centralising the service, breaking the link, will damage the | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
work the job centre can do and will he think again? I would say in his | :19:54. | :20:00. | |
point about the Sheffield centre, let me reassure him that outreach | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
will be put in place in the local community so there will continue to | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
be a service in his career but the number of job centres in Charfield | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
is being reduced from seven to six, but I think in that context of that | :20:15. | :20:23. | |
city I think that is the right move so we have sex properly functioning, | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
Philippe utilised centres rather than more. Can I say to my right | :20:28. | :20:37. | |
honourable friend that when the Labour government closed the | :20:38. | :20:40. | |
Christchurch job centre, this guy did not fall in, but can I ask | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
whether it wouldn't be sensible with fewer job centres to make sure they | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
are open at weekends so are more accessible to people? My honourable | :20:52. | :20:57. | |
friend makes a good point. Other governments have also changed the | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
estate system for job centres and I don't think that was by any means a | :21:04. | :21:11. | |
disastrous move. In terms of his point about opening at weekends, he | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
raises an interesting point and we would have the facility to do that | :21:17. | :21:22. | |
and that is something we would want to keep under review, considering | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
value for money, but if there was a good case for it, that is something | :21:27. | :21:36. | |
we could do. Having conducted a survey outside Batley job centre, I | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
know the majority of users walk there are often every day to use the | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
computers to look for jobs. With it close and they will have to walk to | :21:47. | :21:52. | |
Dewsbury, a journey of 20 minutes if you're able-bodied, so can the | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
Secretary of State confirm whether new sanctioning guidance will be | :21:58. | :22:01. | |
provided those who were late miss appointments? We don't expect people | :22:02. | :22:09. | |
to miss appointments. It is the case that people who were looking for | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
jobs are expected to spend 35 are is weak looking for jobs, which should | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
enable them to travel from Batley to Dewsbury in the time available. We | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
would expect people to make appointments but we would look at | :22:26. | :22:28. | |
the circumstances if somebody has missed an appointment, to take into | :22:29. | :22:38. | |
account any mitigating factors. Has my right honourable friend made any | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
assessment of the direct benefit of job-seekers will experience as a | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
result of co-locating job centre services with other support because | :22:47. | :22:56. | |
outcomes matter here? It is outcomes that matter, there may be | :22:57. | :22:58. | |
circumstances where a co-location has benefit or where having a job | :22:59. | :23:07. | |
centre that is modern and properly designed, is of sufficient scale to | :23:08. | :23:14. | |
provide a range of services to be claimant, all those benefit in | :23:15. | :23:18. | |
helping improve outcomes and it is improving outcomes that we want to | :23:19. | :23:28. | |
do. Further to the answer he gave recently, evidence in the PCS union | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
suggested job centre closures were likely to lead to increased numbers | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
of people being late for appointments and sanction, and the | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
director of the poverty Alliance argued that the Government should | :23:43. | :23:43. | |
reconsider sanctions for lateness. Let's put this in context, 97% of | :23:44. | :23:53. | |
claimants do not get sanctioned every month. I do not think this, as | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
I say, in the context of number of hours we expect people to be looking | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
for work, then I think travelling to a job centre, just in the way that | :24:06. | :24:13. | |
people travel to work, is the way life operates for most people. If | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
there are particular circumstances that result in somebody being late | :24:19. | :24:24. | |
for an assessment or meeting, then that is something that can be taken | :24:25. | :24:31. | |
into account. Does the Minister not realise that job centres are always | :24:32. | :24:37. | |
needed under a Labour Government? Under this Government, with | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
unemployment fives falling, does he agree we should be spending money | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
getting more people into work and not spending it on empty office | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
space? My honourable friend makes a very good point. One could be drawn | :24:53. | :25:00. | |
into a comparison between governments of different sort in | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
terms of records in employment. I am very proud of this Government's | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
record. We have an important role in providing support to people in | :25:09. | :25:14. | |
getting into work and staying in work and improving their working | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
position. I would rather spend the resources we have in doing that as | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
efficiently and effectively as possible and wasting ?140 million | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
per year on an estate that is no longer fit for purpose would not be | :25:30. | :25:37. | |
doing that. I appreciate that the leader is making savings. Including | :25:38. | :25:48. | |
the one in my constituency. It is passing on a huge cost to those who | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
are now going to have to find come out of their benefits, the bus costs | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
of travelling to the new job centre. According to the Minister, it takes | :25:58. | :26:03. | |
39 minutes to get from these places. Clearly, he's never tried to do | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
their journey on a bus. Will he undertake that nobody travelling is | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
sanctioned because of a bus service that is not regular? The first point | :26:12. | :26:19. | |
to make in terms of costs of travel, for those who have been out of work | :26:20. | :26:24. | |
for 13 weeks or more commonly have access to the job centre discount | :26:25. | :26:33. | |
card. That reduces the cost by half. In terms of travelling, there are a | :26:34. | :26:40. | |
lot of people in their daily lives and have to travel distances and | :26:41. | :26:46. | |
have to be at a place on time. Again, when we have got people | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
searching for work, we expect them to spend 35 hours per week looking | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
for that work and that can include allowing good time to travel from | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
home to a job centre. I think that is perfectly reasonable. Again, if | :27:00. | :27:02. | |
there are particular circumstances that result in someone missing an | :27:03. | :27:05. | |
appointment, then there is discretion as far as sanctions are | :27:06. | :27:12. | |
concerned. Does my right honourable friend agree that it is the purpose | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
of the state is reviewed to make sure that the state is effective and | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
reflects demand on service? Not my words but the words of the SNP | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice. On the matter of Police | :27:29. | :27:36. | |
Scotland, showing we argue for rationalising the public services of | :27:37. | :27:43. | |
state when it suits them. Well, my honourable friend makes an excellent | :27:44. | :27:53. | |
point. When governments have to ensure the public money is spent in | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
a sensible way, one of the ways that money can be spent sensibly is by | :28:00. | :28:05. | |
rationalising the estate. Keeping open under utilised job centres is | :28:06. | :28:09. | |
simply not a good use of taxpayers money and it does not do claimants | :28:10. | :28:18. | |
any good either. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Scottish affairs select | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
committee published a report at the end of the last parliament critical | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
of the Government's approach at the closures. Particularly in Glasgow | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
with some claimants having to take three buses at huge expense to other | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
job centres. He has said three times already in the Chamber this morning | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
that he will not review the sanction regime for people who are late for | :28:39. | :28:41. | |
appointments. Will you look at that with the compassion that I know he | :28:42. | :28:46. | |
has as a good minister from the previous parliament to see whether | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
or not anything can be done to make sure people are not sanctioned and | :28:51. | :28:53. | |
put into significant deprivation as a result. I make the point to the | :28:54. | :28:58. | |
honourable member that there are many more appointments for which | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
claimants are late than sanctions. It is simply not the case that being | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
late automatically means a sanction. A judgment is made here but I think | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
we also have to recognise that a lot of people in work have to catch | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
three buses to get to work and are expected to be there on time. I do | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
not think that is an unreasonable position to say that people do have | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
to travel to get to a job centre. If they are able to do so, then that is | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
reasonable requirement. Glasgow continues to be the most generously | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
provided in terms of numbers of job centres of any city in the United | :29:38. | :29:48. | |
Kingdom. The excessive noise from the SNP benches. We are very | :29:49. | :29:52. | |
excitable state. I am not sure what they had for breakfast. I think I | :29:53. | :30:01. | |
would avoid it. We are always grateful to you for your | :30:02. | :30:11. | |
observations. Thank you, Mr Speaker. In Aberdeen, Greyfriars house will | :30:12. | :30:14. | |
close and staff will move to the front facing job centre at Ebony | :30:15. | :30:18. | |
house. Can he give you assurance to my constituents are level and | :30:19. | :30:21. | |
quality of service they receive will not diminish with this decision and | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
what improvements can expect is the in the delivery of service? The | :30:26. | :30:31. | |
reality is, the services will be improving. I am a strong believer | :30:32. | :30:35. | |
that Universal Credit, in particular, can result in an | :30:36. | :30:39. | |
improved welfare system and the increase in the number of work | :30:40. | :30:42. | |
cultures that we have. Scotland is no exception to the fact that every | :30:43. | :30:50. | |
region and nation in the United Kingdom will be seeing an increase | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
in the number of front line staff. And also providing service. I myself | :30:55. | :31:01. | |
have visited a job centre to see the sort of work that is now happening | :31:02. | :31:08. | |
and I am in courage to Ivy improved services -- encouraged by the | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
improved services and the wait staff are working with claimants to help | :31:13. | :31:16. | |
them get jobs and improve their circumstances. No one can accuse the | :31:17. | :31:21. | |
Secretary of State of excluding from his and there is any matter which | :31:22. | :31:25. | |
might be judged by him to be in any way, at any time, material. | :31:26. | :31:31. | |
Comprehensive. That would be a polite way of describing it. Norwich | :31:32. | :31:39. | |
Green job centre serves some of the most deprived neighbourhoods of | :31:40. | :31:42. | |
Liverpool. Can I ask him if he will meet with my right honourable | :31:43. | :31:45. | |
friend, the member of Liverpool Walton and myself to discuss the | :31:46. | :31:49. | |
plans to close it and explore janitors, including core location? | :31:50. | :31:58. | |
-- explore alternatives. It is the case that Liverpool has the third | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
highest of job centres in larger cities. I note that my right | :32:04. | :32:07. | |
honourable friend, the Minister for employment, would be happy to meet | :32:08. | :32:10. | |
the honourable member to discuss this further. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :32:11. | :32:19. | |
There has been a 70% reduction in those being unemployed in my | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
constituency since 2010. One of the best ways to reach vulnerable | :32:25. | :32:27. | |
claimants who have not managed to get into work is out reach at local | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
colleges where perhaps educational support could be tailored at the | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
same time. Can he confirm that innovation is at the heart of these | :32:37. | :32:42. | |
changes? I think my right honourable friend makes a very good point and | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
certainly job centres are very open to partnership working. I think she | :32:48. | :32:51. | |
highlights an area where there is more progress. We might be able to | :32:52. | :32:55. | |
make but I think she raises an important point. The DWP are | :32:56. | :33:03. | |
proposing to relocate the service centre out of Newport to some | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
location north of Cardiff. Location and clear. Along with my honourable | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
friend, we want to keep these jobs, the expertise and the services and | :33:13. | :33:16. | |
those 249 jobs in the heart of our city. Can I as the Minister to meet | :33:17. | :33:20. | |
with us through to be the case in person? -- Astley Minister. We are | :33:21. | :33:27. | |
trying to find a site that will minimise job losses. I know the | :33:28. | :33:29. | |
Minister for employment would be happy to meet her. My constituents | :33:30. | :33:38. | |
in Broxburn are facing the closure of the DWP office. The phased the | :33:39. | :33:46. | |
further closure years ago. Like other members, the very reliant on | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
the service and the Google map approach by this Government does not | :33:51. | :33:53. | |
reflect the true travel they will have to undertake. Will he undertake | :33:54. | :33:59. | |
to do a full review to the areas that are reliant on vital services | :34:00. | :34:03. | |
that those services provide -- centres provide? When it came to the | :34:04. | :34:08. | |
consultation, we looked at a variety of measures by in terms of travel | :34:09. | :34:15. | |
distance and consultation with staff as well. I do not accept criticism | :34:16. | :34:24. | |
of the approach that was taken. Does the Secretary of State accept that | :34:25. | :34:28. | |
requiring some sick and disabled people to travel further to attend | :34:29. | :34:33. | |
compulsory interviews is likely to lead to more cost and hardship and | :34:34. | :34:39. | |
worry for our constituents who are looking for jobs. What will he do to | :34:40. | :34:42. | |
make sure his plans to not leave these honourable people hit the | :34:43. | :34:49. | |
hardest? -- vulnerable people. Let me be clear, we do not expect | :34:50. | :34:55. | |
claimants to regularly attend job centres. We are not looking to | :34:56. | :35:00. | |
reduce the number of health assessment centres and this is very | :35:01. | :35:08. | |
much focused on job-seekers here at ensuring that we rationalise the | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
estate and use our resources as effectively and efficiently as | :35:13. | :35:20. | |
possible. The closure of local services will have an negative | :35:21. | :35:26. | |
impact on the local economy. It will also impact on the quality of life | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
of employees with caring responsibilities will have to travel | :35:31. | :35:35. | |
longer distances. Can I add him what consultation and impact assessment | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
had been carried out with staff, customers and trade unions and will | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
whose department change direction if the consultation does not support | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
the closures that have been planned? There has been comprehensive | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
consultation, as I set out earlier. It was announced in January and | :35:53. | :36:00. | |
there will be further consultations to decipher whether other | :36:01. | :36:06. | |
redundancies are necessary. These are not reforms, these are cuts. By | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
closing Bridgeton job centre, this is a cut to the support of the | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
people who need it most. We are already getting hurt by this | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
Government at being sanctioned. I see these things at my surgeries. | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
With the Government guarantee or this Minister guarantee, that know | :36:26. | :36:29. | |
one person who is having to travel from Bridgeton job centre to | :36:30. | :36:32. | |
Shettleston job centre will have to be sanctioned after taking two | :36:33. | :36:35. | |
buses, money out their incomes and being viewed as late because of | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
that? What we expect of people is to make reasonable efforts to get to | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
the job centres which are relevant to them. The people make reasonable | :36:46. | :36:48. | |
efforts, they will not be sanctioned. The job centre at | :36:49. | :36:56. | |
Deptford was closed in November 2010, now the job centre in Lewisham | :36:57. | :37:00. | |
will close. Young people will now need to travel to Peckham for | :37:01. | :37:06. | |
support finding employment. With youth violence on the rise, how | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
would the Government ensure our young people travelling to Peckham I | :37:12. | :37:19. | |
kept safe? As I say, people who work in her constituency also travel to | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
get to work. The fact is, we have to have a sensible and properly | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
utilised job centre estate across the country, and that includes in | :37:32. | :37:42. | |
London. Over 300 jobs will move from the site in Paisley to Glasgow. | :37:43. | :37:48. | |
Following hundreds of job losses and transfers, this is the very last | :37:49. | :37:54. | |
thing the economy needs. Can the Secretary of State in Germany they | :37:55. | :37:56. | |
will be zero redundancies as a result of this move? -- can the | :37:57. | :38:06. | |
Secretary of State ensure me's as I made clear, the number of front line | :38:07. | :38:12. | |
staff in job centres in every nation and region of this country will be | :38:13. | :38:15. | |
increasing over the course of this process, not reducing. Thank you, Mr | :38:16. | :38:25. | |
Speaker, knowing me as you do, I have no reason to be journalists on | :38:26. | :38:29. | |
this matter. I will say that I am grateful to see that Castlemilk job | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
centre has been removed from his proposed closure plan but I have to | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
say, there is more than a hint of disappointment that Langside job | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
centre remains on the list. It serves the second most densely | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
populated council population in Scotland. There is a clear need for | :38:48. | :38:53. | |
it to be there. Is there an actual equality impact assessment and will | :38:54. | :38:54. | |
republish it? Can I express my gratitude for the | :38:55. | :39:07. | |
absence of churlishness from the honourable gentleman? He sets an | :39:08. | :39:14. | |
example to us all. In terms of the equalities and impact assessment, | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
the Government has fulfilled its statutory duties as it always does. | :39:20. | :39:28. | |
The original inquiry for the job centres clearly didn't respond to | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
our council's offer of shared premises, if it was just about | :39:34. | :39:39. | |
assets, but this now create a situation with the closure of the | :39:40. | :39:44. | |
Alexandria job centre, where job centres plus staff and DWP staff | :39:45. | :39:50. | |
feel they are under threat. What assurances can the Secretary of | :39:51. | :39:58. | |
State gave to my constituents in Dumbarton that they will not be | :39:59. | :40:05. | |
moved from my constituency? On co-location, we are happy to work | :40:06. | :40:08. | |
with other authorities. When it comes to signing on, it has to be at | :40:09. | :40:18. | |
job centre premises. In terms of guarantees and so on, any department | :40:19. | :40:24. | |
has to sensibly look at its estate and ensure it is deployed | :40:25. | :40:30. | |
efficiently and we are increasing front line staff, not reducing them. | :40:31. | :40:39. | |
Given the Joseph Rowntree foundation in their disconnected communities | :40:40. | :40:43. | |
report used Glasgow as a study centre and suggested strongly that a | :40:44. | :40:48. | |
well distributed employment support network is vital canvas Secretary | :40:49. | :40:57. | |
state tell me how this is being objectively, evidential debased, the | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
cuts now being applied to Glasgow? It will still be the case of the | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
large cities in the UK per head of population, last autumn will have | :41:08. | :41:11. | |
more job centres than any other city. I have porridge for my | :41:12. | :41:20. | |
breakfast with a bit of salt in it, but he said people will not be | :41:21. | :41:26. | |
sanctioned if they make reasonable efforts but who will judge a | :41:27. | :41:31. | |
reasonable effort? My constituents face a six mile round trip with all | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
the attentional of bus routes and Brown journeys, and what does that | :41:37. | :41:42. | |
mean for the remaining job centres in Glasgow? Will he meet with the | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
Scottish Government counterparts before any further decisions? We | :41:48. | :41:54. | |
have settled the estate and do not have immediate plans to revisit | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
that. In terms of the sanctions process, there is a comprehensive | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
system of appeals available and there are far more appointments | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
missed than there are sanctions but I expect that to continue to be the | :42:10. | :42:15. | |
case. Yesterday's statement about the closure of Easterhouse job | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
centre is another body blow to the East End. The Secretary of State and | :42:22. | :42:28. | |
ministers have never bothered to visit job centres in Glasgow, so | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
will the Secretary of State come to Glasgow, do the bus journeys to | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
Shettleston and see how idiotic these plans are? I think you might | :42:38. | :42:45. | |
want to have a word with his honourable friend on the subject of | :42:46. | :42:54. | |
churlishness. Glasgow, as I keep saying, has more job centres per | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
head of population than any large city in the whole of the UK. That | :42:59. | :43:07. | |
will continue to be the case and I have to say, if the Scottish | :43:08. | :43:14. | |
Government took the approach of SNP members in this House in terms of | :43:15. | :43:21. | |
good use of taxpayers money, then they would be in even bigger trouble | :43:22. | :43:31. | |
than they appear to be. Order. Point of order, Mr Tom Brake. It may not | :43:32. | :43:33. |