The following is the text of a letter that Gordon Marsden MP (Blackpool South) has sent to the employer regarding the future of the jobs at Warbreck.
"Future of Benefit Centres - Blackpool and the Fylde
I am aware that you have been visiting a number of sites across the DWP Estates and have been working up detailed proposals for handling the transition from DLA to PIP over the next four years.
As I am sure you are aware the employment of staff at the various DWP centres in Blackpool and across the Fylde has been a long standing and important element in our local economy for many years. Indeed having been MP for Blackpool South since 1997 I know that there has been a period of strong, reliable performance from staff in those centres, notwithstanding the changes and outsourcing that may have taken place.
The future of that employment is one in which all of the MPs across the area have a common interest, with each of us, including myself, having some hundreds of constituents working for DWP, wherever their place of work is situated. You will understand that there is enormous interest and of course concern about the future plans and I have to say that it is unclear from what you have indicated in the note you sent to Benefits Centre staff on March 12 what the implications are for Blackpool and the Fylde. I am therefore seeking some urgent clarification from you on a number of points:
1) Your note indicated that one of the benefits centres would become focused on children’s DLA cases. Will this be at Warbreck or another centre, and if so will this be in the Fylde?
2) You also indicated that ‘Blackpool Benefits Centre’ would undertake the reassessment of all existing DLA claimants aged 16-64 by 2016, beginning in late 2013. Will that centre be Warbreck? Can you confirm that timetable and what the situation will be for people employed on that work beyond 2016?
3) You have indicated that Bootle is likely to be the ‘controlled site location’ for PIP New Claim starts from spring 2013. What will be the role of the Blackpool Benefits Centre(s) be in this process and at what stage? Will they be involved in the whole PIP process end-to-end, and if not what are the implications for work in Blackpool, at Warbreck or elsewhere?
You may be aware that I and my other Fylde MP colleagues met with the Minister Chris Grayling last autumn to express our wish for any new work to have a strong Blackpool element and concern that the loss of posts from the local sites in recent years should not be accelerated by any new developments. We received assurances from him then of that importance of the Fylde offices and an indication that there were no further displacements on the horizon. Given that since then anxieties have been raised locally with the relocation of work outside of Warbreck and issues around the closure of the Helpline – so you will understand why we would appreciate a speedy response to the questions I have raised here.
I have copied this letter to my fellow MPs locally and look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Gordon Marsden MP"
