A NEW ministerial bid is being made to curb the closure of a series of Scottish job centres.
The Department for Work and Pensions confirmed it has plans to shut 20 of 97 jobcentres in Scotland as part of an estates review. It will mean the number of Jobcentre Plus offices will be cut in half in Glasgow to save money.
Employability Minister Jamie Hepburn is to raise Scottish Government concerns over the proposals today (Monday) with UK employment minister Damian Hinds in London.
It comes after Holyrood voted by 91 to 30 to voice "concern" about the impact of the closure of Jobcentre Plus sites across the country.
The Scottish government wanted this halted so it could bring forward proposals to "save these jobcentres".
Mr Hepburn, the Scots employability minister said the proposed closures could increase the risk of sanctions and put pressure on people who are already facing stressful circumstances.
The DWP argued that the majority of claims were now made online, leaving office space underused. It said its UK-wide estates review would save taxpayers £180m a year for the next decade.
Some smaller jobcentres will be merged with larger ones, while others will be co-located within council premises.
Mr Hepburn will call for more detail on the outcome of the consultation, plans for co-location and ask for a reassurance that the needs of those who access Jobcentre Plus services will not be ignored.
He said:“Through my meetings with the people and organisations who most rely on Jobcentre Plus it’s clear that there is a fear that closures will increase the risk of sanctions and put more stress on some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
“The Scottish Parliament has united in its opposition to proposed closures and has voiced its concerns on the impact it will have on single parent families and people with health conditions and disabilities.
“At today’s meeting I will urge the UK Government to visit the communities and people affected by these closures in order to truly understand their concerns.
“We need clarity on the timetable for consultation and closures, and for UK Government Ministers to honour the principles of the Smith Agreement, and not take services away and make them harder to access.”
The Department for Work and Pensions said it expected affected employees to move to other sites, adding that any redundancies would be "very small".
Union officials said the wider announcement would mean that more than one in 10 jobcentres in Scotland, England and Wales would shut, putting thousands of staff jobs at risk.
In December, it was announced there would be 13 Scottish jobcentres closed in Scotland - including cutting the 16 in Glasgow by half to eight - to reflect a rise in the use of online and phone services.
In January it was announced there would be a further seven jobcentres going in Scotland as well as eight Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) administration sites.
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