HC Deb 06 February 1989 vol 146 cc485-6W
27. Mr. Harris

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his reasons for relocating social security office work out of London.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply to my hon. Friends the Members for Walthamstow (Mr. Summerson) and for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Patnick) earlier today.

31. Mr. Nicholas Bennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much money will be saved by his Department due to relocation.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

We are making a significant initial investment in our project to relocate some of the work from some London social security offices, but from 1992–93 we expect to save £4 million per year. The net present value of the project over 20 years is £16 million.

33. Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received concerning the future of his Department's offices in inner-city areas.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Since we published "The Business of Service" report in June 1988, we have received about 50 representations concerning our proposals to move some work out of some London offices. Most of these, however, were based on the mistaken belief that we were planning to close offices in London. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are planning to improve our network of offices in London.

36. Mr. Campbell-Savours

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has for the reorganisation of the offices of his Department.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

For our plans for relocating some work from some London local social security offices, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Norris) on 16 January, at columns44–45.

A team of officials is considering options for moving some headquarters work out of London, and we shall make a full announcement of our conclusions in due course.

43. Mr. Sumberg

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many jobs will be involved in the relocation of work from social security offices in London to other parts of the United Kingdom; and when he expects the relocation to be complete.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

As a direct result of the project to move some work from some London social security offices, we shall be creating 430 jobs in Glasgow, 350 in Belfast and 260 in Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan. Staff savings in London will be approximately 1,200. We expect that the transfer of work involved in this project will be complete by October 1991.

44. Mr. Robert B. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how relocation of social security office work out of London will affect his social security staff.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

Relocating some work out of 21 London social security local offices is good news for staff. We are creating more than 1,000 high-quality permanent jobs in the regions; we are taking pressure off our London staff so that they will be able to offer a better face-to-face service and so get more satisfaction from their jobs; staff in London and in the new social security centres will have a better working environment; and, since the project is being phased over more than two years, we see no need whatever for staff redundancies in London.