The Petition of employees of HM Revenue and Customs, the Public and Commercial Services Union and others.,
Declares that they are seriously concerned about the future of the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office in Crewe, and also similar threats facing their colleagues elsewhere in the North West of England. The proposal to close this office will mean that local people and businesses will be left without access to these services. They are also concerned about the likelihood of staff affected by the closures being able to find alternative work within the local area, it being unreasonable for them to travel to alternative HMRC sites by public transport for reasons of cost, time and care for their families. They further declare their support for the PCS campaign to keep these offices open.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges HM Government to withdraw the threat of closure to the Crewe HMRC office.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Mr. Edward Timpson, Official Report, 15 July 2008; Vol. 479, c. 213.] [P000231]
Observations from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Treasury:
The Government notes the petition, and makes the following observations:
“The Government note that HMRC published on 11 June its proposals for restructuring its operations in cluster and individual locations in the North West, which includes Crewe. All representations will be taken into account before final decisions are made later this year on the future of Crewe and the other offices under review. HMRC will continue to maintain a local face to face advice service to customers by retaining enquiry centre services at or near their current locations”.