Jobcentre Plus office closures
MPs will debate Jobcentre Plus office closures, on Thursday 16 March 2017 in Westminster Hall, from 3:00pm - 4:30pm. Chris Stephens MP will lead the debate. This House of Commons Library briefing provides background to the debate and includes a summary of the issues and press and parliamentary coverage.
In March 2018, the DWP’s 20 year contract with Telereal Trillium to manage the DWP estate in Great Britain, including jobcentres, comes to an end. As a result, the Department is considering future locations for Jobcentre Plus and other offices in Great Britain ahead of its expiry.
As part of these considerations, the DWP is looking to reduce the size of its estate by around 20%, and to increase “co-location” of Jobcentre Plus offices with other local services such as local authority benefit teams and mental health services. This 20% reduction is part of a wider plan to sell £4.5 billion worth of Government land and property by 2020/21.
Attached to a written statement on 26 January 2017, the Employment Minister Damian Hinds set out proposals for the future of the entire DWP estate, including 784 buildings providing jobcentre services.
There have been two previous Westminster Hall debate on the proposed closure of jobcentres in Glasgow, for which Debate Packs were also produced – Closure of jobcentres in Glasgow (CDP-2016-0255) and Future of the DWP estate (CDP-2017-0012).
The DWP has also published its full estates proposal, with information on every jobcentre in Great Britain.