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Dept for Work and Pensions;Jobcentre Plus

Answer

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) if he will list the (a) number, (b) location and (c) size of Jobcentre Plus premises due to be disposed of; and what (i) costs and (ii) savings he expects from the disposal over the life of the disposal contract; [141198] (2) if he will place the terms of reference of the external benchmarking exercise carried out on the disposal of Jobcentre Plus premises in the Library. [142183] Mr. Browne: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to my hon. Friend. Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 15 December 2003: As Jobcentre Plus is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the disposal of Jobcentre Plus premises. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. Rollout of the Jobcentre Plus service across the country is a four year programme, planned for completion in March 2006. We are not yet halfway through the implementation of the Jobcentre Plus service and detailed information on disposals for the whole programme is not yet available. However from the information currently available I can tell you that so far we have disposed of 48 sites, totalling 30,548 square metres and a saving to Jobcentre Plus of £6,249,418 per annum. Those sites are listed in the table: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Region District Address Metres2 Total saving per annum (£) East of England Hertford Hitchin Crown House 175 22,581 East of England Suffolk Sudbury PCO The Old 81 57,205 bakery King St East of England Suffolk Bury St Edmonds The 647 171,007 Cornhill East of England Suffolk Ipswich Jobshop Museum 86 12,892 Street East Midlands Greater Nottingham Carlton Rd Jobshop 744 0 East Midlands Leicestershire Leicester 90 Highcross 851 27,079 Street London Brent Burnt Oak 93-95 Burnt 325 62,968 Oak Broadway London Brent Cricklewood Broadway 1634 356,217 London Central London Holbom JC Celco House 503 116,344 289/293 High Holborn London NE London Stoke Newington 919 311,036 London NE London Leyton Grosvenor Park 723 64,617 North East Newcastle Roxborough House Whitley 76 36,564 Bay PCO North West East Lancs Barnoldswick PCO 62 26,775 North West Salford & Traff Washington House Salford 204 41,228 Scotland Dumfries Annan High Street 107 6,470 Scotland Fife St Andrews CSP 43 South 88 44,586 Street Scotland Lanarkshire Larkhall 27 Union Street 118 15,485 South East Hampshire Havant 33 East Street 790 125,703 South East Hampshire Romsey 3-4 Duke Mill 118 21,264 Centre South East Hampshire Eastlight 42/50 High 250 32,138 Street South West Cornwall Isles of Scilly Caller 41 14,980 Off Buzza St South West Devon Barnstable 4 Maxham 90 6,155 Court South West Dorset Bournemouth Garage 9 14 3,284 South West Gloucestershire Coleford JC Lords Hill 134 7,401 South West Somerset Frome North Parade PCO 264 56,746 South West Somerset Street The Cross 423 23,369 South West West of Eng Bristol Hartcliff Symes 56 5,493 Avenue Wales Nth West Wales Pwllheli Penlan Street 26 24,555 Wales Nth West Wales Swansea Ystradgnynlais 41 16,373 PCO Wales Swansea Bay Pontardawe 25 High 17 11,028 Street PCO Wales West Wales Neyland 36 High Street 30 2,679 Wales Wrexham & NW Mold St Davids Lane 65 2,401 Wales Wrexham & NW Llandudno Chapel Street 53 1,988 Wales Wrexham & NW Brecon Canal Bank 80 3,944 Wales Wrexham & NW Denbigh PCO 61 30,776 Wales Wrexham & NW Shotton PCO 76 25,804 Wales Wrexham & NW Holywell PCO 63 31,283 Wales Wrexham & NW Llangollen PCO 15 6,831 West Midlands Coventry Kenilworth 7 Abbey Court 135 23,763 West Midlands Coventry Coventry Park Court 1455 188,343 West Midlands Shropshire Ludlow Jobcentre 168 8,920 Yorkshire & the Humber Sheffield Sheffield Rockingham 2221 480,470 Court Yorkshire & the Humber Sheffield Sheffield Peel House 1 1461 245,442 West Bar North West Liverpool 58 Brackfield Road 2559 486,725 South, Liverpool 6 North West Lancashire West Maxford House Blackpool 3271 1,041,420 North East Tees Valley Tees Building 3142 561,777 West Midlands Birmingham & Solihull 2140 Coventry Road, 3041 684,273 Sheldon, Birmingham B26 3JQ East of England Norfolk Baltic House, 3045 701,037 Mountergate, Norwich _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Strategic, high-level planning has been undertaken for the remaining two years of the programme, 2004-2006, but I am not yet able to provide firm details of premises disposals or surrenders due for that period. Similarly, information on costs and savings from future disposals is unavailable. We have not carried out an external benchmarking exercise on the disposal of Jobcentre Plus premises. Because of the diversity of the districts, service delivery planning for Jobcentre Plus is a locally-driven activity. In undertaking such exercises local managers have to take account of a wide range of factors relevant to the local community before any changes are made to the premises available to them. I hope this is helpful.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

415 c980-2W; 141198;142183

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Closures Jobcentres Jobcentre Plus Offices

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk