To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) redundancy payments to staff who are unable to relocate and (b) daily travel allowance payments to staff relocating to other offices resulting from HM Revenue and Customs’ decision to close two offices in Leicester; and what the estimated annual saving in accommodation costs as a result of the closure of these two offices is. (249414)

[holding answer 19 January 2009]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is vacating one office in Leicester, Attenborough House. Enkalon House, which formerly housed one member of HMRC staff, has already been vacated.

HMRC expects staff to relocate with their teams to another office within reasonable daily travel, almost all of them to one of the two offices in Leicester that are being retained, Saxon House and City Gate House. Daily Travel Assistance (DTA) may be payable to individual members of staff who incur additional costs in commuting to a new office. The total cost of DTA for staff relocating from Attenborough House will not be known until solutions have been found for all staff involved, but is unlikely to be substantial. As HMRC expects that staff will relocate, no estimate has been made of potential redundancy costs.

The closure of Attenborough House, Leicester will contribute to estimated estate savings of £10.4 million per year in the east midlands. These savings are only part of the overall savings HMRC expects to achieve as a result of business efficiencies arising from restructuring.

HMRC is unable to disclose the estate savings for a particular office on grounds of commercial sensitivity.