The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed plans to close nine regional hubs, a move that a union warns would put more than 5,400 staff at risk of redundancy or “forced relocation”. The Public and Commercial Services union criticised the decision, saying it would cause uncertainty and disrupt workers’ lives.
Affected sites and timeline
The DWP intends to exit the following service and support centres by September next year: Blackpool Peel Park, Derby Holborn House, Glasgow Northgate, Halifax Dean Clough Mills, Hyde Beech House, Liverpool Belle Vale, Motherwell Johnstone House, Sunderland Wear View House, and Torquay Cotswold House. These closures are part of a broader consolidation of the department’s estate.
Union response
PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said the DWP’s plans were being presented as “modernisation” but spelled “uncertainty, longer journeys, disruption to family life and the very real risk of losing their jobs” for staff. “DWP has had years to modernise its estate, yet staff continue to work in poor-quality buildings while being asked to pay the price for the department's cost-cutting agenda,” she said. “PCS fundamentally opposes these office closures, and any further closures of service centres or jobcentres that would remove jobs from communities.”
Government justification
DWP minister Andrew Western confirmed the number of service and support centres has been reduced from 127 to 74 over the past five years, delivering “net recurrent cashflow savings of £72.2m between 2022-23 to 2024-25, with significant further savings expected in future years”. He noted that “with hybrid working now well-established, capacity across the estate exceeds requirements and is under-utilised by around a third”. Western emphasised that “these changes are not driven by a plan to reduce headcount” and that the department is committed to treating affected colleagues with fairness and respect, offering moves to nearby locations or redeployment within DWP or other government departments.
DWP spokesperson statement
A DWP spokesperson said the plans are part of measures to consolidate the estate, making it “smaller”, “more effective” and “deliver better value for money for the taxpayer”. “Through this transition we have been focusing on supporting our staff, with redeployment within the department or in other government departments our first priority,” the spokesperson said. “There is no face-to-face customer contact at the affected sites, and Jobcentres and the other vital services we deliver to customers are unaffected.”
