Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has set a target for the number of staff to be re-deployed to other roles as a result of job centre closures.

The Department’s Written Statement on 20 July 2022 set out plans to gradually improve the Jobcentre estate. When the Department closes a poor quality site and relocates to better-quality accommodation it is anticipated, due to the close proximity of the better sites, that all public facing Jobcentre staff will be able to move to the new site. There is therefore no target for the redeployment of staff when an established Jobcentre closes.

If a member of staff is unable to relocate to the alternative Jobcentre location in their current job role, then every effort is made to redeploy them to another role within the Department.