§ Paul HolmesTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many(a) redundancies and (b) redeployments he plans to make in (i) his Department, (ii) Jobcentre Plus, (iii) the Child Support Agency, (iv) the Pension Service, (v) the Disability and Carers Service, (vi) the DWP Corporate Centre and (vii) the Appeals Service in each of the next four years; how many will be front-line staff; and if he will make a statement; [163294]
(2) what estimate has been made of the savings which are likely to be made through the redundancy programme in his Department in each of the next four years; and if he will make a statement; [163297]
(3) to what areas of his Department he plans to redeploy staff in the next four years; how many of these will be front-line positions; and if he will make a statement. [163298]
§ Maria EagleThe 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.