Department for Work and Pensions staff in Milton Keynes set to lose their own jobs as plans are revealed to CLOSE Southgate House offices in Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes' Department for Work and Pensions offices are among those set to close as part of national cutbacks affecting a large number of jobs, union bosses have claimed today.

Southgate House, the home of MK's Jobcentre Plus at the city centre, is on list published by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union this morning of DWP offices earmarked for closure..

The government's Work and Pensions minister David Rutley said today the closures would "support delivery of government priorities for getting people back into employment."

They will also deliver "long-term savings for the tax payer" and meet government commitments to modernise services, he said.

Mr Rutley made it clear that the closures would affect "back-office "staff "not affect front-of-house Jobcentre Plus" offices and customer-facing workers.

"The department has developed a strategy which over the next 10 years will reshape and improve how, where and what it delivers payments to claimants," he said.

Staff were being informed they are at risk of redundancy from 10.30am today.

Mr Rutley said around 12,000 employees would be moving from one site to another in close proximity.

“In terms of colleagues that will be affected where there is no other strategic site nearby, there are around 1,300 colleagues that could be involved."

The move has angered the PCS union, whose general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "The government was quick to clap civil servants at the start of the pandemic - they're even quicker to scrap them now they've declared the pandemic over.

"Our members have worked tirelessly behind the scenes, keeping the country running, paying out benefits to almost two-and-a-half million families, helping them to put food on their table and keep a roof over their head. But now, as food and fuel prices rise faster than ever, they're being abandoned by the government and left to fend for themselves."

The PCS said Milton Keynes was one of the DWP offices closing with no alternative site being offered.

A statement on the PCS website today reads: "First we were clapped, then we were scrapped."

It adds: "Having helped keep the UK running during the pandemic, DWP has rewarded our members by announcing large-scale office closures, which will almost certainly mean job losses. We helped keep the country running.

"On 17 March, DWP made the shocking announcement of its intention to make large-scale office closures.

"The announcement has been devastating for PCS members, as thousands now face possible redundancy. These are the same people who helped keep the country running during the pandemic by processing benefit payments, including unprecedented numbers of Universal Credit claims."

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “These are the workers rightly praised in 2020 by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey as ‘exceptional’ and in November last year by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as ‘miracle workers’.

“But now, as food and fuel prices rise faster than ever, they’re being abandoned by the Government and left to fend for themselves.”

These are the sites due to close, according to the PCS union.

Aberdeen, Ebury House;

Barrow in Furness, Phoenix House;

Bishop Auckland, Vinovium House;

Blackburn, Cardwell Place;

Bury St Edmunds, St Andrews house;

Chippenham, St Pauls House;

Exeter, Clarendon House;

Gravesend, The Grove;

Kirkcaldy, Victoria Road;

Milton Keynes, Southgate House;

Peterborough, Bridge Street;

Southampton, St Cross House;

Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley, Stafford Street.

Sites closing, alternative offered

Bathgate, Whitburn Road;

Birkenhead, Hordan House;

Bootle Redgrave Court;

Bradford, Leeds Road, Burnley, Brun House;

Doncaster, Crossgate House;

Dundee, Lindsay House;

Falkirk, Callendar Gate;

Glasgow, Clydebank, Radnor House;

Glasgow, Springburn;

Gloucester, Cedar House;

Liverpool, Belle Vale, Childwall Valley Road;

London Hackney, Sylvester Road;

London Stratford, Jubilee House;

Manchester Chorlton, Graeme House;

Nuneaton, Discovery House;

Oldham, Phoenix House;

Preston, the Guild Centre;

Rotherham, Dearne Valley, Discovery House;

Seaham, Lighthouse View;

Southend-on-Sea, Kingswood House;

St Helens, Gregson House;

Stirling, St Ninians Road;

Stockton-on-Tees, Tees Buildings;

Walsall, government buildings;

Warrington, Hilden House;

Washington, Durham House;

Wellingborough, Lothersdale House.