Dundee West MP Chris Law has called for the UK Government to give HMRC staff in Dundee every opportunity to transition to new work, after fears were raised that promises given to staff at Dundee’s Sidlaw House that they would have first-access to new civil service jobs in the city appear to have been broken.
In a letter to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman MP, Mr Law called for an urgent meeting to discuss a number of issues raised to Mr Law by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Trade Union, who represent many of the civil service staff in the city.
Staff at Sidlaw House were previously promised that they would have voluntary first-refusal to new jobs created with the DWP in Dundee. In a response to Mr Law last year, the Financial Secretary stated that “HMRC has been in regular conversations with DWP about potential opportunities for simplified applications for staff in Dundee to apply for redeployment opportunities”. However, it was revealed in November that, contrary to these promises, new jobs within the DWP in Dundee were being advertised without prior notice to HMRC staff.
Mr Law also urged the UK Government to reconsider its decision to close Sidlaw House in 2022, which would leave HMRC without any offices north of the central belt of Scotland.
Mr Law said: “The UK Government have broken their promises and guarantees time and time again, and I am not surprised that many of the staff in our city have lost faith in the ability of both HMRC and the UK Government to safeguard their future.
“In under 10 years, HMRC will have removed over 1000 jobs from the local economy, and the UK Government’s efforts so far to keep people in work once HMRC pull out of our city have been abysmal. Despite promises that staff at Sidlaw House would get voluntary first-refusal on new jobs with the DWP in Dundee, we now know that these promises have not been honoured. This was on top of their failure to carry through the transfer of the workforce to the DWP as previously guaranteed.
“HMRC has a highly-trained and very-experienced staff in Dundee, and the UK Government should and must do all it can to retain them within the civil service.”
Chris Law 