§ Mr. Trotterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the annual saving as a result of the proposed closure of tax district offices.
§ Mr. MooreThe main financial savings will be on office space, but because the accommodation rationalisation proposals for tax district and collection offices are interdependent separate figures are not available for district offices alone. The Department is completing a detailed review of accommodation requirements of tax district and collection offices in four of its 15 regions. This shows expected savings in these four regions of at least £2 million per annum initially, with the possibility of additional further savings of around the same amount in due course. It is not possible at this stage to make an accurate estimate of the savings in the other regions.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which tax district offices are to be closed; and, in those cases, where the towns concerned will as a result no longer have a tax district located in them, what is the distance from the office to be closed to the nearest office to remain open.
§ Mr. MooreThere will be 141 closures in locations where other tax district offices will remain open, as follows
London area (35), Luton, Leicester, Southend, Rochdale, Bury, Wigan, Bolton, Oldham, Crewe, Stoke (2), Manchester (5), Darlington, Gateshead, Newcastle (2), Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Hull, Grimsby, Southport, Chester, Birkenhead, St. Helens, Warrington, Liverpool (7), Blackburn, Blackpool, 600W Preston, Chatham, Southampton, Portsmouth (2), Reading, Brighton, Yeovil, Taunton, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Chesterfield, Lincoln, Doncaster, Leeds (3), Sheffield (3) Barnsley, Wakefield, Derby, Nottingham (3), Bradford (2), Halifax, Burton, Stafford, Walsall, Dudley, Wolverhampton (2), Coventry, Worcester, Birmingham (11), Newport (2), Cardiff, Pongypridd, Haverfordwest, Swansea, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow (4), Hamilton, Ayr, Paisley, Edinburgh (2), Belfast (2).There will be 24 closures in locations where no tax district offices will remain, as follows:
Location Approximate distance (miles) to nearest office to remain open Aberdare 7 Arbroath 18 Ardrossan 8 Kilmarnock 7 Blyth 10 Buxton 12 Cupar 13 Folkestone 8 Hartlepool 9 Hinckley 5 Dunfermline 14 Lanark 14 Llandudno 5 Matlock 8 Port Talbot 6 Rawtenstall 7 Retford 11 Selby 14 Shoreham 5 South Shields 7 North Shields 8 Ulverston 8 Wallasey 4 Weymouth 8
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which tax offices were considered for closure in towns with no other tax office but are in fact to remain open; and how far each is situated from the proposed nearest remaining tax office.
§ Mr. MooreThe following table shows the tax district offices considered for closure in towns with no other tax office but which are now to remain open, and the distance of each from the nearest remaining tax district office:
Considered for closure Nearest remaining office Approximate distance (miles) Alnwick Morpeth 19 Bexhill Hastings 5 Chorley Preston 9 Dewsbury Wakefield 6 Farnham Guildford 10 Grantham Newark 15 Grays Basildon 8 Hawick Galashiels 18 Hexham Newcastle 20 Llanelli Swansea 12 Motherwell Hamilton 3 Northwich Warrington 12 Nuneaton Coventry 9 Pontypool Newport 9 Wells Frome 17 Whitehaven Workington 8