§ Mr. Brandon-BravoTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to announce a decision on the proposal to relocate over 2,000 Inland Revenue head office posts to Nottingham; and whether there are any plans to relocate the remaining pay-as-you-earn tax work currently carried on in tax offices in the London area.
§ Mr. Norman LamontFollowing an internal review of its London headquarters accommodation, the Board of Inland Revenue published on 21 April this year a working party report which recommended that, in view of the continuing problems which faced the Department on its accommodation and staffing in the London area, over 2,000 posts in headquarters and other specialist officers should be relocated from south-east England.
After full consultations with the appropriate Civil Service unions, with senior management and with staff, the board has concluded, with my agreement, that some 2,100 posts should be relocated. The great majority of these posts will move to Nottingham provided that a suitable site for a new office development can be obtained on satisfactory terms. As well as headquarters staff, it is envisaged that the capital taxes office, the superannuation funds office and the office of the inspector of foreign dividends will be included in the move to Nottingham. Depending on progress, it is hoped that the main relocation of work to Nottingham will take place from 1992.
As for the PAYE tax work, my hon. Friend will be aware that the majority of this work in the London area was transferred to offices in other parts of the country in the 1960s and 1970s. It has now been decided to move the PAYE work of some further 400 clerical and executive staff in late 1989 to Cardiff, Bootle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Livingston, and the Department is looking at the possibility of moving the work of a further 1,200 or so PAYE posts, including all of the remaining London posts, away from the London area in the period from mid-1990 to mid-1992.
While work is being moved the Department will try to ensure that any inconvenience to the public is kept to a minimum. For the longer term, in order to maintain a service for those who need to make a personal visit to discuss their tax affairs, the existing network of local inquiry offices in the London area will be strengthened and enlarged where necessary.
The moves will secure a good and cost-effective service for the taxpayer. Better recruitment prospects outside the south-east will result in a more experienced and stable work force.