Redundancy looms for tax workers in office merger plan
More than 420 jobs are under threat at four HM Revenue and Customs offices in Kent after the tax authority revealed plans for drastic cut-backs.
HMRC aims to merge its 170 bases across the country into 13 regional offices and admitted there would be redundancies among its 58,000 workforce.
Tax offices in Maidstone (205 staff), Canterbury (105 staff), Chatham (85 staff) and Gravesend (25 staff) are scheduled to close by 2021 at the latest.
HMRC plans to open regional centres in Croydon and Stratford, which will employ up to 5,300 and 2,800 people respectively. Kent workers will be offered transfers.
A specialist centre will remain in Dover, where 145 people work, although it is unclear how many jobs will be needed in future.
HMRC said the move was part of a 10-year modernisation plan and many of its offices were in antiquated 1960s and 1970s buildings, with the number of employees ranging from 6,000 to 10.
Chief executive Lin Homer said: “HMRC has too many expensive, isolated and out-dated offices.
“This makes it difficult for us to collaborate, modernise our ways of working, and make changes we need to transform our service to customers and clamp down further on the minority who try to cheat the system.
“The new regional centres in Stratford and Croydon will bring our staff together in more modern and cost-effective buildings in areas with lower rents.”
The Canterbury and Gravesend offices are scheduled to close between 2019 and 2020, while Chatham will shut between 2016 and 2017 and Maidstone by 2021.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said the closure of 160 offices would be “devastating”, posed a significant risk to the HMRC operation, and called for it to be reviewed by MPs.
Since 2010, more than 10,000 jobs have been cut from the department and 250 offices have closed, plus the network of 281 walk-in tax enquiry centres.
HMRC raised a record £517 billion for public services last year.