Jobcentre Plus: Closures Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Work and Pensions
Gloria De Piero
Main Page: Gloria De Piero (Labour - Ashfield)Department Debates - View all Gloria De Piero's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(7 years, 4 months ago)
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Mr Gauke
My hon. Friend hits the nail on the head. That is exactly right. It is very important that we have jobcentres that are able to deal with the new and important role of providing the support that claimants need. I am talking about having the work coaches and the facilities in place. In some cases, that requires new, improved estates, and we should not be stuck just on the footprint that we happened to have a few years ago, particularly as there is now an opportunity to make those changes, given that the contract is coming to an end.
Gloria De Piero (Ashfield) (Lab)
Annesley DWP office has 130 workers, three quarters of whom are women. The close proximity of the office to their home enables many of those women to have a career and be a parent. There are no nearby offices to relocate them to, so I ask the Minister to pause the closure and conduct and publish an equality impact assessment in this special case.
Mr Gauke
It is the case that there are sites in Chesterfield and Mansfield, which are within half an hour by car from the site that the hon. Lady mentions. It is anticipated that at least 75% of the staff—probably more—can be redeployed to other sites and will not be in a position in which redundancy is relevant, and of course the DWP is seeking to ensure that that number can be maximised.