§ Mr. GarrettTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if employees of the information technology office of the Inland Revenue will benefit from civil service redundancy arrangements if they refuse to relocate consequent upon their being taken over by a private contractor.
§ Mr. DorrellIf employees of the Inland Revenue's information technology office transfer with their work to a324W private company as a result of the current procurement which forms part of the Department's market-testing programme, it is expected that the transfer will be within the scope of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981. This means that current terms and conditions of employment will transfer to the new employer. If, following the transfer, the new employer asked employees to relocate, those employees whose terms and conditions did not include a mobility requirement would not be obliged to do so unless the new location was within reasonable daily travelling distance of their home. If the new employer was unable to offer alternative jobs to non-mobile employees, as a last resort they could be made redundant.