Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of 41 of her Department's facilities on the ability of people to access benefit support.

The changes the Department is making to estates will both improve the working environment for staff, become greener by becoming smaller, helping meet the Government’s carbon reduction target, and provide value for money for the taxpayer.

The announcement made by the Department on 17 March does not impact Jobcentres and customer facing services – or the ability of customers to access benefit support. Rather, it is about consolidating back-office DWP functions into fewer sites.

Where possible, staff will be moved to alternative locations. Each colleague will have a discussion with their line manager to assess the impact of the move on them and if they are able to relocate. The Department’s priority will be to retain, retrain and redeploy colleagues either within DWP, or within other Government Departments in the area and with no reduction in the overall services people receive.