1.7 The Department's estate strategy needed to take account of a number of developments:
■ planned staff reductions of up to 13 per cent by March 2006;
■ the rollout of Jobcentre Plus implementation by March 2006, requiring large numbers of property refurbishments, disposals and acquisitions;
■ rollout of the Pension Service model, which aims to develop a "local national network" to provide a high quality service for pensioners by whatever means of contact they prefer requiring the consolidation of backroom processing into some 26 centres, rather than 400;
■ implementation of Child Support Reform;
■ rollout of Debt Management business involving recovery of overpayments, both when incorrectly paid and when fraudulently claimed, requiring nine new debt centres; and
■ the introduction of new IT systems with implications for accommodation needs.
1.8 Between March 2003 and March 2006, the Department wished to reduce its accommodation needs by some 440,000 square metres or 17 per cent, equivalent to a fall in the space requirement per person of 4.4 per cent over the period, Figure 1.