Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria were used to determine where Temporary Job Centres were commissioned during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department anticipated, and then saw, an increase in demand for its services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It responded by rapidly expanding the space available, on a temporary basis, predominantly in major conurbations. The focus was on areas with good transport links and in buildings that were accessible for both colleagues and customers.

This enabled the Department to provide a workplace that was safe for claimants and colleagues and ensured we could adhere to the Government guidance in place at the time. To ensure flexibility, premises were acquired on short-term, flexible lease arrangements to ensure we could reduce the size of the estate at the appropriate time.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued to Jobcentre staff on the celebration of religious festivals, birthdays, retirements and other occasions during periods of covid-19 restrictions.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

In respect of the workplace, we ask staff at all times and in all circumstances to comply with covid safety measures in place.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact assessment she has made of the risk of covid-19 transmission of increased face-to-face Jobcentre appointments.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has prioritised the safety of our workforce and claimants throughout the pandemic and part of that is ensuring that we have robust national and site level risk assessments and guidance that ensures all appropriate mitigations are in place. The impact assessment informs the generic risk assessment, which we then apply at a local level, within the parameters that are set.

We have a suite of Health & Safety risk assessments in place developed following extensive consultation with departmental trade union representatives. These cover all of the measures in place to protect staff and customers and are regularly reviewed.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Jobcentres have reported multiple covid-19 cases in each of the last six months.

Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department has consistently taken a proactive approach to reporting and reviewing all reported cases of Covid-19 infections. This has ensured that wherever possible sites remain open or partially open.

During the 6-month period May to October 2021, 11 offices have been closed for a circuit breaks, 6 of these were closed due to multiple positive cases on the site. Circuit breaks are tight restrictions and/or closures designed to stop and bring the number of cases down.

The following offices were closed or partially closed due to circuit breaks:

• Blackburn Service Centre
• Wigan Jobcentre
• Caxton House (Corporate Centre/Hub)
• Manchester St Peters SQ (Corporate Centre/Hub)
• Dudley Pedmore House Service Centre
• Guisely Jobcentre
• Weymouth Jobcentre
• Newcastle Tyne View Park (Corporate Centre/Hub)
• Caerphilly Jobcentre
• Kirkby Jobcentre
• Montrose Jobcentre

The offices listed above are sites that were closed for a Circuit Break due to the potential of workplace transmission and therefore do not include sites where they were temporarily closed to allow for deep clean to take place.