Department for Work and Pensions Consultation on the proposal for the future of Bridgeton, Castlemilk and Maryhill Jobcentres:

Response from Citizens Advice Scotland

January 2017

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS), our 61 member Citizen Advice Bureaux (CAB), the Citizen Advice consumer helpline, and the Extra Help Unit, form Scotland’s largest independent advice network. Advice provided by our service is free, independent, confidential, impartial and available to everyone. Our self-help website Advice for Scotland provides information on rights and helps people solve their problems.

Summary

  • CAS is concerned that these closures are very extensive, in a city which already has a high number of people who need help to find work. CAS recommends that the DWP reconsiders the proposed changes, as we feel it will negatively impact on CAB and the clients they serve.
  • CAB research has also shown that travel is difficult for some people, particularly those who are sick or disabled and on low incomes, or those who live in areas where public transport is expensive or inadequate.
  • Our research shows that around one third of Scottish CAB clients are unable to use a computer to apply for work or benefits, due to either lack of access or lack of skills. These people tend to be among the most deprived, and the most financially vulnerable. They rely on access to face-to-face support that jobcentres provide.
  • The changes proposed could put relationships with other third sector organisations at risk, with the potential to leave locally based organisations feeling isolated and cut off. CAS recommends that the DWP makes an effort to encourage and support these partnerships to continue during and after this period of change.
  • If the proposed closures are to go ahead, CAS believes that efforts should be made to increase access to DWP services. This could take the form of co-location with other local authority or third sector services, outreach sessions for example at local GP practices, or home visits for those who have limited mobility.

Question 1: Do you agree with the proposals? What overall comments would you like to make on the proposals?

CAS is concerned that these closures are very extensive, in a city which already has a high number of people who need help to find work. CAS recommends that the DWP reconsiders the proposed closures, as our evidence indicates that the closures will negatively impact on CAB and the clients they serve.

Although this consultation focusses on three of the proposed closures, CAS has concerns about the relocation of all eight of the Jobcentres in question, and this response represents the concerns of all the citizens advice bureaux across the city of Glasgow. CAB have expressed a concern that the proposed relocation of services will lead to increased demand on their already stretched services. If people are unable to easily access face-to-face support from the Jobcentre, they may instead turn to other local agencies for general enquiries and support.

As a service that offers face to face advice as a matter of course, our advisers and clients understand the benefits that this can bring. A survey carried out in September 2016 showed that 77% of advisers thought that providing opportunities for face to face contact with benefit agency staff was ‘very important’[1]. Participants of CAB client focus groups supported this view:

“Everyone missed the local contact for benefits. Processing Centres are too big and remote. If you want to speak to someone it has to be a virtual contact centre, [which is] not good customer service. Face to face contact is better customer service.”

The proposed closures and relocation of services will negatively impact on CAB clients by requiring them to travel longer distances to attend appointments, increasing the cost to those on very low incomes. Increasing the distances that people are required to travel in order to attend a Jobcentre appointment puts them at greater risk of sanctions, for example if they are unable to attend an appointment on time. These clients may also experience other additional barriers such as physical and mental health conditions that make travelling long distances difficult or harmful. In addition, increased travel times may cause other problems such as accessing affordable childcare or unpredictable hours in paid work.

In addition to these barriers, many CAB clients have limited or no access to the internet or a digital device, requiring them to use the digital services available in the Jobcentre. The requirement to spend 35 hours per week seeking work also adds to the necessity for local services which offer online access.

Finally, and perhaps most worryingly, CAS evidence suggests that when engaging with Jobcentre services becomes too difficult, and too many barriers prevent access to support, some more vulnerable clients are prone to disengaging with the benefits system entirely. The DWP may assume that those no longer claiming JSA or ESA have found employment, or been able to access some other form of financial support, but the reality for many CAB clients is that mental health issues, chaotic environments and deprivation of various kinds can lead them to drop out of the benefits system. This results in a lack of supportingfinding appropriate and sustainable employment, while also losingtrack of how they may or may not be affording the essentials they need to live. It is CAS’s view that the DWP should be doing everything possible to reduce the barriers for people to engage with its services, which also means ensuring that people have access to local jobcentre services.

An East of Scotland CAB reports of a client who was a care leaver with numerous health issues who was undergoing an appeal regarding his ESA claim. Below is an extract of a letter sent to the CAB regarding the outcome of his appeal.

“Just to let you know that the 2nd tier review has been granted and [the client] is to receive an award… Unfortunately I have been unable to get a hold of [the client] for some weeks now. I also work in [city centre charity] every week and they also say that they have not seen him, which is very unusual and I am very concerned. The client has not been at home for the past two months and is staying with friends. He does not know if there is mail there for him but I have asked him to get home and check.”

The changing profile of Jobcentre Plus clients:

The number of Universal Credit (UC) claims in Scotland is still relatively low, due to the gateway conditions which exclude a large number of potential claimants[2] and the fact that, at the time of writing, Universal Credit full service has only been rolled out to four Scottish local authority areas.

There are approximately 832,000 claimants of the legacy benefits in Scotland, which indicates the scale of the rollout ahead. However, it will not be until September 2018 that Universal Credit full service will be rolled out to Glasgow, and 2018 at the earliest that current claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Income Support, Housing Benefit or Tax Credits will be migrated to Universal Credit, with the current timetable seeing the full transition to Universal Credit completing in 2021.

Until then, DWP staff and welfare rights advisers will be required to navigate a complex legislative and policy landscape in which there are effectively two benefits systems running in tandem, depending on the claimant’s circumstances, and potentially three, depending on how the Scottish Government use the new devolved social security powers and when these become enacted. Now more than ever, it is important to foster links with other local advice and advocacy services who will help clients to navigate through the increasingly complex benefits landscape. Centralising Jobcentre services in fewer locations is likely to put these links and partnerships with local support services at risk, and early evidence from CAB in UC full service areas suggests that support services are experiencing additional demand as a result of this unprecedented change to the benefits system, in fact anecdotal evidence suggests that demand in Jobcentres has not decreased but increased with the roll out of Universal Credit full service.

The continued roll-out of Universal Credit will also radically change the profile of those needing to attend the Jobcentre. The incorporation of Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Tax Credits into one single benefit means that Jobcentre customers will in future include those with physical and mental health conditions, caring responsibilities for young children, and those already in part time work. Each of these different client groups are at risk of experiencing potential barriers to accessing Jobcentre services, including difficulties with mobility and making long journeys across the city for those with health conditions, difficulty accessing affordable childcare for those with young children, and unpredictable shift patterns and/or inflexible hours for those already in part time work.

CAS is also aware of a number of other changes to the benefits system and additional responsibilities that work coaches will be expected to deliver over the coming years. This includes, in addition to the roll out of Universal Credit, the changes proposed in the UK Government’s Work and Health Green Paper, the introduction of in-work progression, supporting those affected by the lowered Benefit Cap and making preparations for the devolution of disability and carers benefits to Scotland. We are concerned that this could lead to a cumulative burden on the role of the work coach, and that the proposed closures and relocation of half of the Jobcentres in Glasgow comes at a time of unprecedented change for Jobcentre staff. Although there has been no mention of redundancies, CAS urges the DWP to ensure that in the process of relocation and consolidation of Jobcentre services in Glasgow the capacity and human resources of Jobcentre services are not reduced.

Question 2: Will the proposals to close Bridgeton, Castlemilk and Maryhill jobcentres have a direct impact on you? If yes, please provide further details.

The closures will have a direct impact on the clients we support and the staff and volunteers working in Glasgow citizens advice bureaux. This is expanded upon in our response to question 3.

Question 3: If you currently use Jobcentre Plus services at these jobcentres, what impacts are there on the time and cost taken to travel to your new jobcentre?

In the consultation document, it states “We believe it is a reasonable expectation that claimants travel to an office within 3 miles or 20 minutes by public transport of their existing jobcentre”. CAS is of the opinion that this is not a good measure of the distance people are likely to have to travel in order to attend their proposed new jobcentre, because it is unlikely that they will be taking their existing Jobcentre as the starting point for their journey. As an illustrative example, taking Maryhill Jobcentre as a starting point, planning a journey to Springburn Jobcentre, Google Maps estimates that this will take 30 minutes via public transport, which is the amount estimated in the DWP’s consultation document (see figure 1). However, taking postcode G23 as a starting point, one of the postcodes served by Maryhill CAB that they have said is likely to be worst affected, Google Maps estimates that the journey would take one hour by public transport.

Figure 1: Journey by public transport from Maryhill Jobcentre to Springburn Jobcentre as estimated by Google Maps.

Figure 2: Journey by public transport from post code G23 to Springburn Jobcentre as estimated by Google Maps.

In addition to the increased journey time, it is much more likely that someone will be required to take a number ofbuses, trains or subway in order to get from their starting point to the destination when the post codes that the Jobcentre serves is taken as the starting point, rather than the existing Jobcentre itself, due to the fact that Jobcentres are more likely to be based on main transport routes rather than in residential areas.

“In the most affected areas clients will have to travel over 2.5 miles in many instances, with public transport being costly for many and taking a long time to reach destination as well given less than efficient bus routes in operation. Journeys could take up to 1.45 hours.”– Manager of Maryhill CAB

In Glasgow as in most major cities, bus routes tend to be radial rather than circular, stemming outwards from the city centre. This means people are likely to have to catch multiple buses, one into the centre, and one out, or take a much longer route around the city. As can be seen from the example in Figure 3 below, someone travelling from Bridgeton Jobcentre to Shettleston Jobcentre would be required to catch more than one bus.

Figure 3: Bus routes from Bridgeton Jobcentre to Shettleston Jobcentre showing the requirement to catch more than one bus, or a bus that takes over 40 minutes.

The fact that people would be required to catch several buses is relevant as it has the potential to increase the cost. If someone was to catch two buses there, and two buses back, this would amount to four single bus fares within the First Bus ‘City Zone One. Each bus fare is£3.35 (off peak, after 9am), resulting in a total cost of £13.40 for a single visit to the Jobcentre. A cheaper option would be to purchase a day pass at £4.50 per day, but this is still a significant amount of money for someone who receives £73.10 per week with which to buy all their necessities including food, topping up pre-payment gas and electricity metres, broadband, mobile phone contracts and toiletries. If a benefit claimant was to take two bus journeys across the city, at a cost of £4.50 each time, this would be the equivalent of spending 12% of their income on transport. If, in addition to catching the bus, they were required to catch a train or the subway, this would increase the cost as these services are not included in the cost of the day bus pass.

An East of Scotland CAB reports of a client who had applied for Universal Credit and had received a £100 short term benefit advance. However, the client did not understand that his first payment would not be for another few weeks and he had underestimated how much of an advance he would need. The client now has no gas or electricity and no food. He had to sign-on today and he mentioned that the bus fares cost him over £6 which has made him worse off as he only has a couple of pounds left now.

Transport becomes even less affordable if someone is subject to direct deductions from their benefit claim, which can be as much as 25% without the claimant’s consent, bringing the benefit payment for a jobseeker over 25 years with no dependents down to £54.80 per week, the equivalent of £7.83 per day.

An East of Scotland CAB reports of a client who is in receipt of Universal Credit and receives £202.50 per calendar month, and is currently having money deducted from his award to repay a benefit advance. The client is struggling financially, and only has £10 to last him until his next benefit payment. He says he is ok for electricity and gas, but requested a foodbank voucher and assistance making a crisis grant application. The client had no money for his bus fare to get to the food bank.

Furthermore, if someone has been sanctioned, they are entitled to no funds whatsoever for the first two weeks of a sanction unless they are in a vulnerable group, making the £4.50 cost of bus fare to the Jobcentre impossible to afford.

During January 2017, Maryhill CAB surveyed their clients for four weeks, gathering 153 responses on how the proposed Jobcentre closures would affect their clients. When asked what their most commonly used mode of transport was for attending Jobcentre appointments, almost three quarters (44%) said that they tend to walk (figure 4). This is perhaps an indicator that people try to avoid spending their benefit money on public transport, but with the proposed relocation it is likely to be difficult for people to walk to the new location of their Jobcentre.

Figure 4: Maryhill CAB survey data showing most commonly used forms of transport for clients who attend the Jobcentre (based on 125 responses)