Final plans have been published to update the DWP’s
property estate so services reflect the way people access jobs and
the benefits system.
Today’s announcement confirms that some smaller jobcentres will
merge with larger ones, and others will be co-located with local
government premises. It will mean that the Department for Work
and Pensions (DWP) will be able to
offer a more efficient service, while delivering good value for
the taxpayer and saving over £140 million a year for the next 10
years.
The support provided to jobseekers will be further strengthened
this year as more work coaches are recruited in every nation and
region of the UK.
The plans reflect the fact that eight out of ten claims for
Jobseeker’s Allowance and 99% of applications for Universal
Credit full service claims are now made online. This means
that DWP buildings are
used much less with 20% of the estate currently underutilised.
Jobcentres and benefit centres are covered by Public Finance
Initiative (PFI) contracts which are now coming to an end. In the
20 years since these contracts were signed, the welfare system
has undergone large-scale reform.
Since 2010, around 3 million more people are in work, youth
unemployment has fallen by 375,000, the employment rate is at a
record high and unemployment is at the lowest level since 1975.
, Minster for Employment
said:
We will always make sure that people have the support they need
to get into and progress within work. These changes reflect the
fact that more people access their benefits online resulting in
many of our buildings being underused.
We’re merging some offices and locating other jobcentres with
local authorities to make sure that the welfare state and our
employment support works for those who need it and those who
pay for it.
Today’s announcements confirm that DWP plan to:
- merge 68 smaller jobcentres into larger or underused ones
nearby
- move 4 jobcentres to new sites where we have secured better
new premises
- co-locate around an additional 40 jobcentres with local
authorities or other community services to provide joined-up
services for the local community with all services in one place
- move to a network of larger more efficient corporate and back
office buildings, opening a new corporate site and 5 new large
service centres across the country, in a phased approach starting
in 2018 and closing 26 processing or corporate sites
- close 4 offices where the building is no longer used and
standing empty
- retain almost 800 offices
- re-organise the corporate centre to make maximum use of 7
regional corporate hubs (in 6 cities), including establishing a
new office in central Manchester
The planned changes have been made in consultation with staff
taking into account the impact on benefit claimants
and DWP staff. The
majority of staff will remain in their current offices. Where
staff need to move office, most moves are within a short distance
but if this is not the case alternative job roles will be offered
wherever possible.
Initial plans to reform the DWP estate were
published on 26 January 2017.
It was announced that our tenancies would be renegotiated in
the 2015 Spending Review
DWP currently uses
over 900 buildings around the UK – all of them leased from a
range of landlords. The DWP estate covers
around 1.5 million square metres across the country, of which
300,000 square metres is under-utilised.
The expiry of the PRIME contract provides DWP with the
opportunity to review which offices we need, leaving those that
we no longer need at commercially advantageous terms and having
the opportunity to negotiate better deals on those we want to use
in future.
The savings of over £140 million a year for the next 10 years
will be made by a combination of a smaller estate, rent set to
market levels, a new service delivery model and maximising space
usage.
Where practical, we are co-locating with local authorities in
their buildings. These arrangements bring benefits for the
department, claimants and the taxpayer. More of the services that
customers use are in one place which means that claimants have
access a greater breadth of expertise.
In the areas that underwent public consultation and a jobcentre
is merging with another, an outreach service will be put in place
within the local community to ensure people can access support to
get into employment. Vulnerable people will continue to receive
home visits and postal claims where it is appropriate to do so.
The majority of staff will remain in their current offices with
others moving to another DWP site nearby.
There may be some redundancies: but we expect these numbers will
be around 750 people (less than 1% of our overall staff numbers)
and the majority of these will be covered by our voluntary
redundancy scheme.
This programme is about reducing under-used space, not reducing
staff numbers. The figures take account of 13 sites which are
currently still under commercial negotiations and for which we
are unable to announce at this point.
