Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 08 February 2017
08 Feb 2017 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Jobcentre Plus Network
I have said before that I think that all eight of the proposed Glasgow jobcentre closures should be put out to public consultation. I have made that point to the secretary of state and in the chamber. Three of the closures have been put out to public consultation, and my view is that all eight of them should have been.
The second aspect of the context in which we must understand the DWP’s proposals is that they come at a time when the jobs market in the UK, including here in Scotland, has changed considerably. There are now more jobs in the British economy than ever before, and there are more than 2.7 million more jobs than there were when Labour was last in office in 2010. Pauline McNeill has just asked me about Glasgow. In Glasgow, the claimant count has fallen by 44 per cent since 2010. In that context, it is surely rational to keep under review the nature and scale of the jobcentre provision that we need.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-03873, in the name of Jamie Hepburn, on the future of the Jobcentre Plus network. 14:44
The Minister for Employability and Training (Jamie Hepburn)
SNP
Thank you, Presiding Officer. We recently debated proposals from the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions to close Jobcentre Plus facilities in Sc...
Adam Tomkins (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
Will the minister give way?
Jamie Hepburn
SNP
I will, of course, give way to Mr Tomkins, who will understand the Smith commission agreement very well, given that he was on the commission.
Adam Tomkins
Con
I am not solely responsible for having written every word of the Smith commission agreement, but I thank the minister for the compliment. There is much in t...
Jamie Hepburn
SNP
Let me make it clear that I did not mean accepting the intervention to be a compliment to Mr Tomkins, and I am aware that he did not write the entire Smith c...
Adam Tomkins (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
From the day that I discovered that the DWP had plans to close a number of jobcentres—initially in Glasgow and then across Scotland more broadly—I articulate...
Pauline McNeill (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
The member rightly talks about having a UK perspective on jobcentre closures, but does he think that Glasgow—the city that he represents—is ready for half of...
Adam Tomkins
Con
I have said before that I think that all eight of the proposed Glasgow jobcentre closures should be put out to public consultation. I have made that point to...
Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP)
SNP
Leaving aside the fact that I might have some issues with the statistics that Mr Tomkins used on the fall in the claimant count, does he accept that those wh...
Adam Tomkins
Con
I accepted that point when we debated Mr Doris’s motion on 19 January, and I accept it now. I was about to say that, all of that said, as I said in our previ...
Sandra White (Glasgow Kelvin) (SNP)
SNP
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. The debate is about jobcentre closures, but Mr Tomkins is talking about police stations, which have nothing whatsoeve...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Thank you, Ms White. That was not really a point of order. I have already considered whether Mr Tomkins has moved too far away from his amendment. I understa...
Adam Tomkins
Con
Thank you, Presiding Officer. As I understand it, Pollokshaws police station might close, as might Saracen police station—which I think is in Bob Doris’s co...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Adam Tomkins
Con
Not on this occasion. It is also important to understand what is not happening with regard to jobcentres. The DWP’s proposals are about enhancing services, ...
Jamie Hepburn
SNP
I want to pick up on the member’s point that there are no planned job losses. I accept and readily concede that I am at an advantage in having received a let...
Adam Tomkins
Con
The minister has been assiduous in sharing with Glasgow MSPs and members of the Social Security Committee correspondence that he has received from UK Governm...
Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green)
Green
Will the member give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Please sit down, Mr Greer.
Adam Tomkins
Con
I asked how they knew that, because I knew that the issue of how jobcentre capacity is measured has been challenged in the House of Commons, and they told me...
Clare Haughey (Rutherglen) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The member is in his last minute.
Adam Tomkins
Con
I am in my last two seconds. The other two thirds of the building are being used by other Government departments. It illustrates the magnitude of what we ar...
Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
The closure of 23 jobcentres that the DWP is pursuing will affect deprived communities across Scotland, from Lanarkshire and Glasgow to the Western Isles and...
Adam Tomkins
Con
There are 713 jobcentres in Great Britain. I want to ensure that I have understood the Labour Party’s position. Is that position that there are no circumstan...
Mark Griffin
Lab
If the Conservative Government invested in public services and got people into work, and if we had a zero unemployment rate, maybe there would be a case for ...
Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP)
SNP
On Monday, Patrick Grady MP and I met single parents who will be impacted by the jobcentre closure in Maryhill. I thank the Minister for Employability and Tr...
Adam Tomkins
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Bob Doris
SNP
If I have time.