'No idea of new jobs agency impact'

A committee of MPs who examined the project found the agency was "not able to substantiate" what impact the new offices had provided on helping people find jobs, and did not know whether it had delivered the 2.2 million extra work-focused interviews a year contained in the business case.

Although widely praising the project to build 800 modernised Jobcentre Plus offices, which was completed on time and under budget, the Commons Public Accounts Committee also said they had failed to significantly increase customer satisfaction levels.

And the cross-party group said the new open-plan offices could put employees at greater risk of abuse or harm by disgruntled customers.

Their report said the project had "important lessons" for other major government programmes, having seen the successful creation of 800 modernised offices following the merger of the Employment Service and Benefits Agency in 2000.

But it also said: "The agency has delivered a more cost effective office network and a more pleasant customer and working environment, but it is not able to demonstrate clearly whether the project has achieved the business case objective of increasing the number of clients finding work."

While six million people had been helped into work since its launch, the MPs said, the success was "attributable to a number of initiatives and other economic factors". And the agency "did not know" whether it had delivered 2.2 million extra work-focused interviews a year.

The MPs also said the open-plan offices had failed to deliver higher customer satisfaction, particularly on privacy. They heard that while almost three quarters of customers thought privacy was "very important", "only 26% think that privacy at Jobcentre Plus offices is 'very good' and 36% considered it to be 'poor'".

And they said the removal of glass screens as part of the layout could lead to more attacks on staff - something which should be closely monitored by bosses.

"The move to an open plan environment in the new office network may increase the risk that employees are subject to abuse or harm by disgruntled customers," the report said. "Senior staff should monitor the extent and cause of incidents so the approach to staff safety can be reviewed if necessary."