Express & Star

MP Eleanor Smith in call to halt city HMRC office closure

A city MP has joined forces with union bosses and staff in a bid halt to plans to close Wolverhampton's HMRC offices.

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The HMRC offices at Crown House have been earmarked for closure under plans

Eleanor Smith wants to stop proposals which would see 300 staff move from Crown House to a new headquarters in Birmingham. Staff who refuse to move face losing their jobs.

HMRC announced plans to close the offices on Birch Street in 2016, as part of a scheme to shut down 137 local offices and replace them with 13 regional centres. It is due to close next year.

But campaigners have now vowed to keep the site open, insisting its closure would cause millions to be lost from the city's economy.

Staff at HMRC in Wolverhampton have collectively agreed to oppose the closure. They said in a statement to the Express & Star: “We fight this closure not just for our jobs but because these jobs will be lost from Wolverhampton forever.”

Ms Smith, Labour's MP for Wolverhampton South West, said: “I will fight for my constituents to have a decent standard of living.

"It cannot be right that we tolerate a situation that means children of public servants are put into poverty. 45,000 children in the West Midlands are defined as being in poverty because their parents are poorly paid public sector workers.”

Andrew Lloyd, regional secretary of the PCS union, said: “We cannot allow this closure to happen. It makes no sense to have a tax system that is purely based in Birmingham.

"A Birmingham-centric region will be bad news for Wolverhampton, not just for lost jobs, and services, but because of the economic impact on this city, that will run into millions being lost.”

A public meeting has been called tonight at the Britannia Hotel in the city centre to discuss the issue.

It will feature addresses from PCS leader Mark Serwotka, Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett, Ms Smith and a HMRC staff member. The meeting starts at 6pm.

HMRC said the office closures – which include four sites in the Black Country – would help shave £100 million from its budget.

Last month it emerged that the five-storey Crown House has been earmarked for 102 flats should the move go ahead.