Ministers in 'fantasy land' over HMRC office closure plans
Ministers have been accused of living in 'fantasy land' over the impact of closing HMRC offices in Dudley.
Ian Austin said the Government had so far given 'no answers' to concerns he has raised over proposals to shut down HMRC's tax credits office at the Waterfront in Brierley Hill.
The move, which Dudley North's Labour MP Mr Austin has described as 'a huge setback', will see 250 jobs go.
Ministers have said staff at the office could move to the new HMRC Birmingham central office, which is due to open in 2020.
Mr Austin led a parliamentary debate on the issue last week, calling on Financial Secretary Mel Stride to 'look again' at both the content of the proposals and the timetable for them.
He said today: "I think the minister gave us no answers at all to be quite honest.
"I have asked him to look again at the issue and for the time being our campaign goes on.
"We want him to look at this properly.
"That idea that people should be travelling from Brierley Hill to central Birmingham and back in the rush hour is complete fantasy land.
"You'd either need Lewis Hamilton to be driving or have a helicopter."
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 during the debate.
"That came as a huge shock to the hard-working, highly skilled and loyal staff."
Conservative MP Mike Wood, whose Dudley South constituency is home to the HMRC offices, has urged the Government to give employees at the site 'the certainty that they need'.
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.
Last September the Government agreed a pre-let to occupy the whole of a 240,000 sq ft Birmingham office development. It will be the Midlands regional hub for HMRC.
