§ Mrs. Knightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he has decided to close the local Inland Revenue stamping offices and to centralise a postal service at Worthing; what advantages in terms of (a) efficiency and (b) manpower will be achieved; and if he is satisfied that services to solicitors and others will be as prompt in all cases.
§ Mr. Wakeham[pursuant to the reply, 10 February 1983, c. 438]: In 1981 a staffing survey suggested that there might be gains in efficiency if the provincial stamp offices were closed down and most stamp duty work was concentrated in a central office. Following the report a detailed study of the financial and other implications of the provincial office proposals were carried out. As a result of this, the Board of Inland Revenue announced on 3 February that it had decided to retain almost all the provincial offices, although some transfer of work might be necessary in a number of instances to make the offices viable. In the case, however, of the offices at Sheffield and Glasgow the level of work does call into question the justification for their retention, and the board is discussing its future with representatives of the legal profession and the trade unions concerned. If these offices were to close it would be the intention to transfer the work to Leeds and Edinburgh respectively. The board will be reconsidering the proposal to concentrate head office postal work in the light of the decision to retain the provincial offices.