Government offices set to close with jobs at risk

Concerns have been raised after the Government announced it aims to close offices in the South West which will affect dozens of staff.

The Ministry of Housing, Local Government and Communities (MHLGC) announced on November 12 it was closing offices in Exeter and Truro, as well as Sheffield, Birmingham, Newcastle and Warrington over the next two years, affecting around 400 staff members. The ministry has said there will be no compulsory redundancies and the aim was to support staff to continue in their roles.

The announcement brought criticism from the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents staff, as well as the Conservatives who claim that hundreds of workers in Devon and Cornwall could be forced to leave the area.

The MHLGC has said that it wanted to create a "more coherent office estate" across the four regions with "strong, sizeable office communities across a mixture of larger offices, place-based offices, and specialist sites." Some reports have claimed that five larger offices will be developed in London, Wolverhampton, Darlington, Manchester and Bristol.

Other cities in the UK and Northern Ireland with MHCLG offices include: Nottingham, Leeds, Cambridge and Plymouth, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Liverpool, Hemel Hempstead, Hastings and Norwich.

Labour said it aimed to grow the number of civil servant roles outside of London to 50 per cent. It is currently 45 per cent in the regions compared to 23 per cent in 2020.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "We want to create a more coherent office estate with strong, sizeable office communities across a mixture of larger offices, place-based offices, and specialist sites.

"The department will continue to have offices in every English region, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and all staff affected will be able to continue in their roles in one of these locations."

The Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Kevin Hollinrake MP, criticised the plan saying it would have a hugely negative impact on the six areas affected.

He said: "Rather than moving thousands of jobs out of Westminister to talented people right across the country, as the previous Conservative Government did, Labour seem intent on removing these opportunities to really level up the country.

"Not only does this unnecessary and ideologically driven decision affect the lives of people doing valuable and diligent work in these six offices but there is a wider and detrimental economic effect on the communities they are in. Now people face having to uproot their lives and those of their families, while the Labour Government shows it does not care about levelling-up and tackling regional inequalities across the United Kingdom.

“What signal does this give to Birmingham, Exeter, Truro, Sheffield, Warrington and Newcastle where these offices are being closed? And what about Labour’s policy towards local councils with the closure of these Local Government offices? To me it says this Labour Government does not care about these communities or the people living and working there."

The union representing workers at the six sites have demanded an urgent meeting with management over the plans to close the offices.

A spokesperson for the Public and Commercial Services Union said: "It is unacceptable for these decisions to be announced without proper consultation. We demand an urgent meeting with management to discuss what is a very serious situation that will affect up to 400 of our members across the country."

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