§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the impact of 1,400 redundancies in Paignton, Devon, on benefit advice services. [154294]
§ Angela EagleThis is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Adrian Sanders, dated 23 March 2001:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what assessment he has made of the impact of 1,400 redundancies in Paignton, Devon. on benefit advice services.
The potential redundancies in Paignton are in two tranches of 700, the first occurring in January and the second is imminent. The local Benefits Agency (BA) office, in consultation with Employment Service (ES) colleagues, has assessed the requirement to deal with the issues arising, including benefit advice.
This was minimal with respect to the first tranche but is considered to be significant with regard to the second. BA and ES staff have analysed all potential requirements and are to discuss the appropriate response with the Company, Nortel Electronics, this week. Staff will be made available to deal with the emerging situation with little or no impact on service to other customers.
I hope this is helpful