WORK for the Government’s biggest department could be sent overseas in a move that unions say would cost tens of thousands of jobs.

If key services for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which handles benefits claims and payments, leave Britain it would be the first time that important Government work has been done outside the country. The concerns were raised when it emerged that the department had drawn up security plans for when work went to cheaper countries.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the biggest Civil Service trade union, fears that call centres and back office functions such as information technology will soon leave Britain.

Consideration of offshore working by the department comes amid mounting concern from unions about the impact of large scale job cuts on frontline services and as a consumer backlash against offshore call centres has begun to hit banks and other businesses.

It will also fuel the increasingly acrimonious relations between the PCS and the department, which is at the forefront of efforts by the Treasury to reduce Civil Service jobs. It has so far cut 15,000 and has a target of cutting another 15,000 by 2008. Next week more than 90,000 members of PCS will stage a two-day strike in protest at the impact of the job cuts on safety.

The briefing on “offshoring” by the department’s security team issued to senior staff last month says: “In line with the continuing need for government departments to reduce costs, proposals are being made by service providers to undertake work for or on behalf of the department overseas.

“This could involve the transfer of part or even all of the functions of a DWP area of business to a centre located outside the UK. This is referred to as ‘offshoring’.” It adds: “Before a decision to offshore may be taken a great deal of care needs to be taken in determining whether levels of security around the offshored business will be sufficient.”

The PCS said it feared that tens of thousands of jobs were at risk and that it was clear that there were now no no-go areas for the Government in its desire to cut jobs. The union said it was concerned that such advanced plans had not been discussed with it beforehand.

Mark Serwotka, the union’s general secretary, said: “There are severe ramifications which go beyond the DWP and across the Government. It is outrageous that the union representing the workforce hasn’t been told when it is clear that there are advanced plans for putting elements offshore.”

The Department for Work and Pensions denied that the document meant that it was on the verge of moving large operations overseas. A spokesman said: “We have no plans to move any of our contact centres or any of our other services offshore. The note from the department’s security team was produced on an entirely contingent basis, not in response to any specific proposals.”

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