Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 8 January 2007.
John Hutton
Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions, The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2:30,
8 January 2007
We want to provide the best possible service we can to the hon. Gentleman's constituents and those of every hon. Member, and we work hard to try to do that. There are five Jobcentre Plus offices in his Constituency, four of which are full time. One has become part time and, whenever such changes are necessary to improve the overall quality of the service we provide and achieve the best value for money for the taxpayer, we will always try to ensure that suitable and proper arrangements are in place—for example, for those of his constituents on JSA who may need to travel further to sign on.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent