Up to 128 staff members could lose their jobs in ‘callous’ Lincoln Service Centre closure

Up to 128 people could lose their jobs when a support centre closes next year.

Staff learned last week that the Lincoln facility, which is located within City Hall on Orchard Street, will close in May 2026.

This will affect service and support centre staff who don’t see customers face-to-face, but will not impact the JobCentre and the Health Assessment Centre.

The Department for Work and Pensions, which runs Lincoln Support Centre, is planning to close smaller branches in a consolidation effort, and says it hopes to relocate staff who have lost their jobs.

The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents some of the staff, described the decision as ‘callous’ and said it would fight to keep the jobs in Lincoln.

“PCS does not accept the rationale for this callous decision which has the potential to throw 128 loyal members of DWP staff on the scrap heap simply because the department has a lease break that allows them to exit part of the office at Lincoln City Hall,” the union said in a statement.

“We are urging the DWP to change their strategy and stop putting jobs unnecessarily at risk.”

It says that the nearest service centre is 40 miles away, meaning redeployment there would be very challenging for staff.

It also said that if proposed welfare cuts are made: “We will need more staff and offices, not less, to deal with that fallout.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “The closure of Lincoln City Hall Service and Support Centre will not affect Lincoln Jobcentre which will remain open.

“All staff at the support centre will be fully supported, with redeployment available within the department, or other government departments.”

Staff have been told that the department is aiming to ‘transition away from small numbers of colleagues working in multiple sites, to fewer, but larger and more economically viable, multi-product line sites, accommodating upwards of 300 people’.