JobCentre roll-out praised by MPs

The new JobCentre Plus offices were opened over six years

A £1.9bn project to streamline and modernise Britain's job centres and social security offices has been praised by MPs as "exemplary".

The public accounts committee praised management of the six-year scheme, which saw 800 JobCentre Plus created.

The scheme - one of the biggest public sector construction projects in the UK - came in £135m under budget.

But it is not known if the new offices were yet helping more people find work, MPs said.

Between 2002 and 2008, the Department for Work and Pensions replaced more than 1,500 job centres and social security offices across Britain with a network of 800 Jobcentre Plus offices.

'Good practice'

The move saw the Employment Service and Benefits Agency merge, and aimed to improve people's experience of looking for work with new open plan offices, more "work focused interviews" and an attempt to offer a service "similar to that offered by a bank or modern retailer".

Committee chairman Edward Leigh praised the scheme's roll-out, saying the success was due to "continuity in the leadership team", decades of experience among front-line managers, and a flexible approach with tight financial controls.

"Other public sector organisations taking forward big procurement and change projects cannot afford to ignore this exemplary good practice," he said.

The project is due to break even in 2012-3 and the government expects it ultimately to save about £6bn.

Vulnerable to attack

But the report said, while the new offices were cheaper and more pleasant, there was no clear evidence that the project had "achieved the business case objective of increasing the number of clients finding work".

And it said the new-look offices had not meant more satisfied job seekers - which could be affected by other things like staff's attitude.

The report conceded that the new open plan office may mean staff are more vulnerable to attack by disgruntled customers.

It recommends managers monitor whether staff feel threatened and review the approach to staff safety if necessary.