THE UK Government has admitted it has no idea how many people use its Jobcentres – despite plans to close half of the services in Glasgow because of a “drop in use”.
Proposals to close eight job centres in the city have been put forward by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which says it will save public money and reflects an increase in the use of online and telephone services.
A consultation is taking place until the end of this month on three of the proposed Jobcentre closures – Bridgeton, Castlemilk and Maryhill – as users will have to travel more than three miles to another service. It states that: “as unemployment has dropped across the city, so has the use of some of these smaller jobcentres”.
But in response to a written question in the House of Commons last month asking how many people use the services of Jobcentres in major cities across the UK, Work and Pensions minister Damian Hinds admitted: “The Department for Work and Pensions does not measure the number of people visiting its network of Jobcentres.”
Margaret Ferrier, SNP MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, who lodged the question, said: “I don’t think the minister or his department understand what Jobcentres do on a day-to-day basis.
“It is not just for claimants, it is also people who want to go and search for a job. Not everyone is computer literate and they are going in there to ask for help from the staff as well.”
Ferrier has secured a House of Commons debate on Wednesday on the wider issue of the future of the DWP estate.
A spokesman for the DWP said: “As unemployment has dropped across the city [Glasgow] – the claimant count is down 44 per cent since 2010 – so has the use of some of our smaller jobcentres."
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