To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which job centres (a) are due to be closed and (b) are due to remain open; what the timescale is for those remaining open to become Jobcentre Plus; and if he will make a statement.

The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Simon Hughes, dated 21 February 2005

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning our plans for closing and retaining Jobcentres, and the timescale for completing the transformation of Jobcentre Plus. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

I have placed in the Library a list of sites planned for closure as part of the Jobcentre Plus rollout programme and activity to centralise benefit processing. This list includes a number of sites which are closing through merging with co-located offices. While the majority of these sites will be disposed of in due course, a number will be retained by Jobcentre Plus to accommodate non-customer facing activity.

I have also placed in the Library a list of our planned Local Service Outlets—those customer-facing offices providing access to our services. This listing includes what we refer to as Flexible Service Delivery sites, where we are working with local partners to provide access to services through third party premises.

I should stress that this is a snapshot of our plans based on the best information available. The lists of offices will inevitably change as we progress through rollout of the new, integrated service and continue to refine our plans for centralising benefit processing in Jobcentre Plus. For example, a significant number of the site closures are dependent on construction of new buildings or acquisition of new premises and these are often subject to delays and other issues. I would also expect the number of Flexible Service Delivery sites to increase significantly as we conclude local discussions with partners on arrangements.

We continue to review the plans for our network as the reducing headcount is impacted on all parts of the business, and we may have to reconsider the future viability of a number of sites in this context. Completing the rollout of the new service and centralising benefit processing at the same time is a challenging programme of work and I can assure you that providing customer service is at the centre of decisions we make. We will also ensure that local stakeholders are kept informed of progress and any changes to our plans.

We are shaping the future Jobcentre Plus network in response to the changing business need. The need for face-to-face facilities for jobsearch and other aspects of our business has been superseded in many instances by new business processes and the use of information technology. For example, over the last 12months we have seen an increase of over 40 per cent. in the number of hits on our jobsearch website. Encouraging our customers to use these new channels enables us to focus on those customers who need greatest help, through the intervention of personal advisers, for example.

You will see from the lists that we will retain a significant network of offices through which customers can access our services. Our current forecast is that when rollout is complete the total number of outlets from which our services can be accessed is likely to be around 1,000. On present plans, our network will be substantially complete by the Summer of next year.

I hope this summary of both the current position and our future plans is helpful.