Ian Austin: we can't afford to lose HMRC jobs
Plans to close HMRC offices in the Black Country will rid the region of jobs it 'cannot afford to lose', MPs have warned.
The HMRC’s tax credits office at the Waterfront in Brierley Hill, Dudley, has been earmarked for closure in a move that will see 250 jobs go.
Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey has been urged to rethink the plans by Dudley North MP Ian Austin.
In a parliamentary debate he raised on the issue, the Labour MP said: "These are jobs that neither the staff themselves nor the wider community in Dudley can afford to lose, and that is why I am asking Ministers to look again at this decision.
"We want them to keep the Brierley Hill offices open and ensure that the highly skilled HMRC staff continue to work for the Government, serving the public."
Last summer civil servants at the Dudley office were told they would be transferred to the DWP to work on the introduction and implementation of Universal Credit.
Then in October, they were informed they would remain at the Waterfront offices working on the new benefit.
"Instead, at the end of January it was announced that the Government had changed their mind, that their jobs were at risk and that the office would close," Mr Austin told MPs.
"That came as a huge shock to the hard-working, highly skilled and loyal staff."
Mr Austin has been backed by Conservative MP Mike Wood, whose Dudley South constituency is home to the HMRC offices.
He urged Financial Secretary Mel Stride to 'look again' at both the content of the proposals and the timetable for them.
Mr Wood said this was vital 'to see whether the Government are doing absolutely everything they can to find the right way to make full use of the fantastic talent that we have at HMRC at the Waterfront, to give employees the certainty that they need, to retain the skills and experience that we need in the civil service, and to set an awful lot of minds at rest in my constituency and that of [Mr Austin]'.
Mr Stride has agreed to meet with the two Dudley MPs to discuss the issue further.
HMRC announced a radical office closure programme in November 2015, reducing the number of offices in the UK to just 13.
