PRIVATISATION OF JOB CENTRE CALL CENTRES

That this House notes that the Department for Work and Pensions has announced its intention to outsource more core work to the private company, Capita; further notes that the Department for Work and Pensions already outsources jobseeker's allowance new claims calls to Capita; is concerned that there are plans to extend this to include other areas of telephony work; is further concerned that this announcement comes as part of a wider plan to close several jobcentre sites, including Coventry's Tile Hill jobcentre; notes that such closures raise questions for existing Department of Work and Pensions staff; and calls on the Government to halt the privatisation of key jobcentre work, and ensure that all jobcentres are properly staffed to deal with the increased claimant numbers and to ensure that no further redundancies are made.