<p>Closure of Department for Work and Pensions Offices</p>

Part of 3. 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:03 pm on 12 July 2017.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:03, 12 July 2017

Yes, indeed, I’m happy to make that commitment to you. We will, I hope, be having a broad discussion about exactly what the plans are, why they’ve seen fit to do this, why they didn’t consult with us, and indeed what can be done now. It hasn’t actually happened yet. What can we do at this moment in time to assist and to make sure that we understand exactly what the proposals are so that we don’t have a rumour mill going on, which has been going on for some time, and that staff can be reassured, and indeed service users can be reassured, about where the offices will be located in the future?

So, as I said, we’ll be looking for clarification regarding the timing of the closures, relocation of staff, what’s happening to the services—the whole range of issues around the relocation of the offices. I will be reiterating that this is absolutely not at all what the UK Government has said in its industrial strategy about bringing employment to areas where there’s less employment than you might get in urban centres, and it absolutely cuts across our own Better Jobs, Closer to Home agenda.