Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
MP urges DWP: call off closure
Gaffney demands rethink over jobs
Hugh Gaffney has written to employment minister Damian Hinds, asking him to “put on hold” the planned closure of the Department of Work and Pensions centre in Coatbridge.
The MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill said he is campaigning heavily over the issue, which will see the centre’s 250 workers moved to Motherwell and Glasgow and which he says will remove spending of £4000 per week from the community.
He has met union officials and management representatives about the move, as well as requesting local impact assessments from North Lanarkshire Council.
The MP said: “I’ve written to the minister, asking him to put this on hold and not take any jobs out of Coatbridge.
“It will probably be after the recess before I’m able to meet with him but I’d like to see what we can do to preserve these jobs.”
Speaking at a Westminister Hall debate last week, Mr Gaffney told fellow MPs: “I would like to know why the jobs are leaving Coatbridge.
“There is no need and all we will be left with is another empty building.
“The biggest problem I have is that the government is taking away 250 jobs that help our community.
“They mean that £ 4000 a week, on average, is spent locally. I have the receipts because I asked staff to do this exercise.
“Not only will jobs be taken out of Coatbridge but small businesses will be affected and there will be additional job losses.”
The Advertiser reported in February that the Coatbridge administration centre was one of 16 DWP premises across Scotland earmarked for closure as part of a nationwide estates review.
The DWP said then: “We will be closing the building and staff will either move to our Johnstone House office in Motherwell or to a new building acquisition in Glasgow.
“Planned changes will be made in consultation with staff, taking into account the impact on benefit claimants and DWP staff.
“The vast majority of staff will have the option to relocate or offered alternative roles.”
Coatbridge MSP Fulton MacGregor has also expressed his anger at the news, as have his SNP colleagues Neil Gray MP and Alex Neil MSP in neighbouring Airdrie & Shotts.
There is no need and all we will be left with is an empty building
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be visiting Monklands later this month – as the party remains “on an election footing”.
The opposition leader will visit Coatbridge, the constituency which Hugh Gaffney won back last month, on August 25 as part of a five-day series of campaign events.
He is also likely to visit key marginal seats; with Airdrie & Shotts now falling into that category after Neil Gray of the SNP retained it with a slashed majority of just 196.
The Advertiser understands Mr Corbyn is also likely to visit the constituency as part of his tour; party officials have described Airdrie as being among their “top target” seats.
Mr Gaffney says he is looking forward to welcoming the Labour leader in what will be his second visit to Coatbridge in little over a year, after he addressed a public meeting in April 2016 in support of Elaine Smith’s campaign for the Scottish Parliament.
He told the Advertiser: “It’s important for me that he’s coming to our constituency; he’ll be speaking in public, with the location to be finalised.
“I’ve known Jeremy Corbyn for years, through trade union links – I’ve always found him supportive of trade unions and he speaks my language.
“He has integrity, ideas and vision; he understands and more speaks up for the working class.”
Party officials say Mr Corbyn will be visiting seats with slim majorities, noting that 18 of the 64 seats they would need to win for a Westminster majority are in Scotland and that seven, including Airdrie, require “swings of less than one per cent”.
The Labour leader will also hold a series of events over his five days in Scotland, as part of their For the Many campaign focusing on the economy, poverty and the NHS.
Mr Corbyn said: “Labour remains on an election footing as a government-in-waiting, ready to end failed austerity and ensure that Scotland has the resources it needs to provide the public services its people deserve.
“Labour has the policies to build a fairer Scotland, with a £10-anhour minimum wage, a ban on zero-hour contracts, a Brexit deal that puts jobs first, and taxing big corporations and the richest individuals a bit more to fund our schools, hospitals, emergency services and social care.
“The only way to remove the Conservatives from Downing Street, and have a government that works for the many, not the few, is to back Labour in Scotland.”
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale added: “I look forward to joining Jeremy as we take our message to the people of Scotland.”