§ 2. Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received 103 concerning the proposals by the management of the Benefits Agency in Wales for the closure of processing units and public caller offices. [6845]
§ Mr. Roger EvansA number.
§ Mr. JonesI am grateful to the Minister for that reply. Is he aware that, in the past 12 months, there were 16,000 personal calls to the Benefits Agency office in Holyhead, 5,000 claims for social fund payments and 3,500 payments over the counter? How can the Benefits Agency claim that it provides a better service to the people of Holyhead, Llangefni and other areas in Wales when it is withdrawing facilities and closing offices? Vulnerable people will be worse off if the plans are implemented. We are grateful to the Minister for the two-months extension of the consultation period. Will he go one step further and scrap the plans?
§ Mr. EvansThe proposals are subject to consultation. As the hon. Gentleman said, the period has been extended and has not yet expired. The hon. Gentleman draws attention to the use of Benefits Agency offices in Anglesey at the moment, but he should bear in mind the fact that powerful factors are changing, and will change, the way in which people use Benefits Agency offices. The jobseeker's allowance is a streamlined benefit that has covered all unemployed people since 7 October. Previously, 70 per cent. of the unemployed case load was on income support, and those people went to a Benefits Agency office. There are four jobcentres in Anglesey, all of which provide a service for JSA.
§ Mr. RogersDoes the Minister accept that the proposals for south Wales are, at the very least, ill conceived and half baked, and that whoever drew them up had no concept of the geography of south Wales? In the Rhondda valleys, for example, people will have to travel many miles by means of very poor public transport, because many of them do not have any private transport. The idea that they can do their business by telephone is just as daft. Will the Minister issue telephones to them so that they can contact his Department?
§ Mr. EvansThe hon. Gentleman's comments, and all other representations, will be taken into account before any decision is made. I must point out to him, however, that telephone calls to the Benefits Agency are increasing in number and that, in certain circumstances, they are a more popular way of doing business with it. Modern technology enables telephone inquiries to be moved from where they are received to anywhere where an official is immediately available to deal with them. All those are important factors, and they will be borne in mind before a decision is taken.