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Jobcentre Plus - Restructure

05/03/2011 Jobcentre Plus is undergoing a restructure from its current structure of 11 regions, to a revised structure of 7 new Geographical Groups as part of Governmental expenditure reduction plans. The revised structure will redefine the Jobcentre Plus map of Britain.
  • A new "Central England" group will be created that incorporates the East and West Midlands, as well as the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
  • Yorkshire & Humber and the North East will be merged into a new "North East England" group.
  • London, meanwhile, will be merged with the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, and Kent creating a new "London and the Home Counties" group.
  • The previous South West and South East regions (excluding Kent) will be merged into a new "Southern England" group.
  • Scotland, Wales and the North West will remain unchanged.
The new approach will mean that DWP's Employment Related Services Framework Lots no longer map to the geographical structures of Jobcentre Plus. This may create logistical challenges, for example, in the East of England Lot, where the two successful "regional" Work Programme providers will now have to co-ordinate with two separate Jobcentre Plus group areas. The same will apply in the Surrey, Sussex and Kent Contract Package Area, which will similarly be split across two of the new Jobcentre Plus areas. Successful Work Programme contractors in these areas may therefore find themselves having to segregate management information on the progress of different customers at a Jobcentre Plus District level as part of their reporting requirements. Similar challenges may also apply with the new Mandatory Work Activity contracts, which are also based on the existing Jobcentre Plus regional structures.The process of transition to the new structure is already underway, but the realignment of all roles and functions in those regions most affected by the changes may take some time 


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