Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress GovCoin, Barclays, RWE npower and University College London on behalf of the Department have made in developing technology that welfare claimants can easily adopt to handle their payments through a mobile app.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
A small Proof of Concept was undertaken with DISC Holdings (formerly Govcoin) which included a budgeting app that could be used on a mobile phone. There are no plans to roll out any such pilot at scale. If claimants chose to use an account with a mobile app, as long as it has a standard account number and sort code, then they may do so. It is not within the DWP’s remit to promote one company’s product over another.
DWP has liaised with University College London regarding technological developments in this area. No formal projects were initiated as a result of this.
The Department continues to work with industry to understand how emerging technologies can be used to support claimants.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants are currently served by the Alexandria Jobcentre Plus in West Dunbartonshire constituency; and how many of these are (a) disabled people and (b) women.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The information requested is not available. However, such information that is available is in the tables and provides the number of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit (required to seek work) claimants; plus the number of claims to Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support from people who are served by (a) Alexandria Jobcentre and (b) in the West Dunbartonshire constituency.
Table (a) Alexandria Jobcentre
| The number of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit claimants attending Alexandria Jobcentre | The number of people making a new claim to Employment and Support Allowance and attending Alexandria Jobcentre | The number of people making a new claim to Income Support and attending Alexandria Jobcentre |
| January 2017 | December 2016 | December 2016 |
Female | 150 | 42 | 5 |
Male | 340 |
Table (b) West Dunbartonshire Constituency
| The number of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit claimants in the West Dunbartonshire Constituency | The number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants in the West Dunbartonshire Constituency | The number of Income Support claimants in the West Dunbartonshire Constituency |
| January 2017 | August 2016 | August 2016 |
Female | 615 | 3,000 | 1,210 |
Male | 1,430 | 3,060 | 320 |
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has been made of the effect on the local economy of moving 15 jobs from Alexandria Jobcentre Plus in West Dunbartonshire constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds
We have considered the wider impacts of the local economy when developing our proposals for Alexandria Jobcentre. The economic impact of employment is dispersed beyond the specific location of a workplace and staff currently based at Alexandria jobcentre already live in the broader area around the site. While we expect the majority of these staff to be relocated, it is unlikely that a significant proportion of them will also move their place of residence.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a public consultation will take place over the proposal to close the Alexandria Jobcentre in West Dunbartonshire constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds
There will be no public consultation on the proposal to close Alexandria Jobcentre as the proposed move to merge with Dumbarton Jobcentre is 3.4 miles away and 18 minutes by public transport. We have committed to a public consultation for offices over three miles and 20 minutes away by public transport.
Asked by: Martin Docherty-Hughes (Scottish National Party - West Dunbartonshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria were used to identify the Alexandria Jobcentre Plus in West Dunbartonshire constituency for closure.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Department has sought, where feasible, to merge sites in close proximity as part of its overall review of estate. Merging the staff and services from Alexandria Jobcentre into Dumbarton Jobcentre optimises use of space, ensures value for money and enables effective delivery of services to the public. Alexandria Jobcentre is 46% underutilised, meaning that we are spending money on rent for space that is unused rather than on services and support.