Hundreds of workers in Dundee and Fife face uncertainty over their future as the Department for Work and Pensions prepares to close scores of offices across the UK.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union says the UK Government will close its Victoria Road office in Kirkcaldy, which has around 101 staff members.
Some 316 workers at Lindsay House in Dundee will be offered the chance to relocate to the city’s Jack Martin Way but no such option will be available in Fife.
It comes as part of plans to close 42 offices across the UK.
PCS warns more than 1,000 workers face a “very serious prospect of redundancy” at 13 of the department’s sites where no option of relocation has been made available.
Our members have worked tirelessly behind the scenes, keeping the country running.
– PCS union
It believes up to 3,000 jobs could be at risk across the country overall.
Closures are scheduled to happen by June 2023, the union said.
Serious questions to answer
Dundee West MP Chris Law said the DWP has “serious questions to answer about this decision and the effect it will have on staff in our city”.
He added: “I know from speaking to staff of the effect of years of stagnant wages coupled with increased workloads have had – they must be given real assurance that wages and terms and conditions will be maintained, if not finally improved, in this merger.
“I also know of the heavy workloads that staff currently face as they deal with the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the spiralling Tory cost of living crisis, with this only predicted to get worse in the coming months.
“It is vital that staff are supported in this merger, with disruption minimised as much as possible.
“I will be writing to the secretary of state seeking urgent assurance that staff will be properly supported here in Dundee.”
Other offices in Scotland affected
According to PCS, Aberdeen’s Ebury House is the only other office in Scotland to close with no merger planned.
The other affected offices in Scotland are Whitburn Road in Bathgate, Callendar Gate in Falkirk, Clydebank, Springburn, and Gregson House in Stirling.
The closured were revealed during an urgent question at Westminster from SNP employment spokesman Chris Stephens.
In response, work and pensions minister David Rutley insisted they will not affect Jobcentre Plus or customer-facing roles.
He said it is “very disappointing” that an embargo agreed with the PCS union on briefing workers of the closures first “does not seem to have been respected”.
“Clearly our staff should be the top priority at this time,” Mr Rutley said.
“I hope that colleagues will understand that I’m not able to go into all the details this morning as we’re currently briefing affected colleagues as we speak.”
Mr Rutley said the minister for employment will write to MPs in affected areas later on Thursday and that there will be a statement to Parliament on Friday.
‘Miracle workers’
In an online statement, the PCS union accused the UK Government of turning its back on staff hailed as “miracle workers” during the Covid pandemic.
“The government was quick to praise civil servants at the start of the pandemic but ministers are even quicker to fire them now they have declared the pandemic over,” the union said.
“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.”
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “As part of plans to improve the services we deliver to claimants, help more people into employment and modernise public services, DWP is moving some back office staff to better, greener offices, which will not affect any public-facing roles.
“This is not a plan to reduce our headcount – where possible, our colleagues in offices due to close are being offered opportunities to be redeployed to a nearby site, or retrained into a new role in DWP or another government department.
“We are making every effort to fully support our staff through this process.”