HC Deb 06 March 2002 vol 381 cc415-7W
Mr. Heath

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the locations of debt recovery centres within his Department and those after the planned reductions. [37018]

Malcolm Wicks

Debt Management Services, a unit within the Department, currently has responsibility for Swansea approximately 1,800 staff based in 127 sites across the country. These sites are generally co-located with existing Benefits Agency offices. The plan is to consolidate these units into 10 debt centres over the period ending March 2005. Departmental staff outside Debt Management Services also process overpayment work for the benefits administered centrally, such as Retirement Pension. This work is carried out at a further three sites, and is currently under review.

Details of the current and planned future sites are in the following list.

Current locations for debt processing work

  • Barking
  • Twickenham
  • Hackney
  • Bedford
  • Norwich
  • Slough
  • New Forest
  • Chichester
  • Weymouth
  • Plymouth
  • Derby
  • Nottingham
  • Perry Barr
  • Hereford
  • Wolverhampton
  • Wrexham
  • Porth
  • Barrow
  • Warrington
  • Crewe
  • Salford
  • Hull
  • Mexborough
  • Hemsworth
  • Gateshead
  • Sunderland
  • Glasgow City
  • Newlands
  • Irvine
  • Falkirk
  • Bathgate
  • Balham
  • Hounslow
  • Glasgow (for Ealing and Euston)
  • Watford
  • High Wycombe
  • Bury St. Edmonds
    • 416W
  • Peterborough
  • Isle of Wight
  • Bath
  • Gloucester
  • Chippenham
  • Skegness
  • Lincoln
  • Halesowen
  • Shrewsbury
  • Cwmbran
  • Newtown
  • Swansea
  • Toxteth
  • Whitehaven
  • Skelmersdale
  • Keighley
  • Leeds
  • Sheffield
  • Durham
  • Stockton
  • Annisland
  • Bridgeton
  • Stornoway
  • Dumfries
  • Peterhead
  • Dundee
  • Poplar
  • Stratford
  • Belfast (for Neasden and South Circular)
  • Wood Green
  • Stevenage
  • Corby
  • Bexley
  • Hastings
  • St. Austell
  • Bristol
  • Lichfield
  • Loughborough
  • Edgbaston
  • Smethwick
  • Walsall
  • Cardiff
  • Caernarfon
  • Blackpool
  • Breckfield
  • Preston
  • Birkenhead
  • Bradford
  • York
  • Doncaster
  • Newcastle
  • Middlesbrough
  • Greenock
  • Springburn
  • Ayr
  • Galashiels
  • Motherwell
  • Perth
  • Harlow
  • Ilford
    • 417W
  • Ashton in Makerfield (for Palace)
  • Edgware
  • Clacton
  • Oxford
  • Lewes
  • Portsmouth
  • Barnstaple
  • Taunton
  • Worksop
  • Sutton in Ashfield
  • Sparkhill
  • Coventry
  • Nuneaton
  • Merthyr
  • Pembroke Dock
  • Kirkby
  • Widnes
  • Southport
  • Chorlton
  • Dewsbury
  • Rotherham
  • Barnsley
  • Hexham
  • Hartlepool
  • Renfrew
  • Cranstonhill
  • Stranraer
  • Cowdenbeath
  • Bellshill.

Sites where benefits are currently administered centrally: Blackpool, Washington and Newcastle.

Proposed locations for debt centres: Chorlton, Porth, Stornoway, Nuneaton, Ashton in Makerfield, Corby, Dearne Valley, Bradford, Glasgow and Salford.

Mr. Heath

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to revise the number of centres for debt recovery in his Department; and if he will make a statement. [37017]

Malcolm Wicks

I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Western Isles (Mr. MacDonald) on 31 January 2002,Official Report, column 544W.