Union warns of job cuts over DWP office closures

Thousands of jobs are at risk at Department of Work and Pensions offices across the UK, a union has warned.

The DWP has confirmed plans to close some offices and relocate staff at others to save money.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said more than 1,000 jobs are at risk when 13 sites are scheduled to close by June 2023.

It added that thousands more civil servants could be at risk when 29 other sites are closed and relocated.

DWP Minister David Rutley told MPs the department had "too much estate", and the move would help deliver savings and modernise services.

About 12,000 officials will be asked to move to another DWP office in "close proximity", he added.

A further 1,300 staff members will not be able to move to another office - but Mr Rutley said they will be offered retraining for another role in the DWP or another government department.

According to the PCS, the offices scheduled for closure include one in Stoke-on-Trent where 213 staff work, a site in Kirkcaldy with 101 staff, one in Aberdeen with 64 posts, one in Peterborough with 100, and one in Exeter where 119 posts are based.

The union said those slated for closure and relocation include a site in Washington, Tyne and Wear, where 945 jobs are based, an office in Stockton-on-Tees with 383 posts, one in Walsall with 296, as well as two sites each in London and Glasgow.

The department said the plan would bring annual savings of £80-90m from the 2028-29 financial year onwards.

Mr Rutley said the department was not planning to reduce overall headcount and the delivery of face-to-face services at job centres would not be affected.

But PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka accused the government of "abandoning" staff and leaving them to "fend for themselves".

"The government was quick to clap civil servants at the start of the pandemic; they're even quicker to scrap them now they've declared the pandemic over," he added.

Labour shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth condemned the move, adding that it exposed ministers' ambitions to help poorer areas as part of its "levelling up" agenda as "utterly hollow".

"Ministers are today cutting quality public sector jobs from communities who need them in the middle of a devastating cost of living crisis," he added.

Defending the closures, Mr Rutley said the DWP currently had office space for 158,000 staff but a maximum forecast headcount of 97,500.