Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the amount of information available on the number of people in the disabled working-age population in the Glasgow South constituency who use services at (a) Castlemilk and (b) Langside jobcentres on public sector equality duty.

We are committed to complying with our Public Sector Equality Duty, as part of the Equality Act 2010, to meet the needs of those with protected characteristics. Equality analysis involves us considering the likely or actual effects of proposals on people with protected characteristics as part of our decision making processes and helps us comply with the Equality Act 2010.

We will be undertaking an equality analysis as part of the detailed planning for service reconfiguration. This will include feedback from public consultation in those locations where this applies.

The equality analysis and public consultation will help us determine whether we have sufficient information to assess the impact on the 5,790 people in Glasgow South who claim Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefits, as well as other people who use our services at Castlemilk and Langside Jobcentres, before any final decisions are made.

It is also important for us to assess the extent to which people use our services as not all benefit claimants are required to attend the Jobcentre on a regular basis.