§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which posts will be lost in his Department under the Chancellor of the Exchequer's plan to reduce numbers of civil servants; and what assessment he has made of proposals to cut 30,000 jobs. [163177]
§ Maria Eagle[holding answer 25 March 2004]: The Department has been developing plans for a reduction of up to 18,000 posts since 2002. This is now part of a four-year plan to reduce the number of posts by 30,000. This will reflect the new business model being rolled-out in Jobcentre Plus including more front-line staff conducting work-focused interviews; a Pension Transformation Programme and reductions in staffing in the Pension Service; the introduction of Child Support reform; and savings in "back office" functions in HR, finance and IT support.
The detail of how reductions will be allocated and profiled between businesses and corporate services will be developed in the normal way through our business planning processes and in discussion with the trade unions. We will provide further detail after the Spending Review settlement.