DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS STAFF CUTS

That this House congratulates staff in the Department for Work and Pensions on their success in getting people back into work in this difficult economic period; notes the significant savings that Jobcentre Plus and other Department for Work and Pensions staff have enabled by finding people work and minimising the welfare budget; is concerned that the position of 13,500 staff on fixed-term appointments whose contracts are coming to an end has not been clarified; further notes that this number includes 2,500 fixed-term appointees in the Department undertaking crucial work responding to the economic downturn, who could be made redundant in November 2010; is alarmed that, with job losses set to rise and a freeze on recruitment, the redundancies of these staff would lead to an untenable workload for other staff in the Department; and calls on the Government to extend or make permanent the contracts of such workers and enter into urgent negotiations with the recognised trade unions on this matter.