Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will reconsider her plans to close 41 of her Department's processing sites, as announced in March 2022.

The Department has too much estate. There is currently capacity for over 158,000 people across the Department’s estate, against a requirement for space for approximately 90,000. We therefore need to reduce our estates capacity, while retaining our national footprint. The Department’s plans for transformational change will support delivery of the Government priorities for getting people back into employment, deliver long-term savings and meet Government modernisation commitments. Reshaping how, when and where the Department works, will result in a smaller, greener and better estate.