Lib Dem MPs Step Up Fight Against Tax Office Cuts (Devon and Cornwall Liberal Democrats)

Devon and Cornwall Liberal Democrats <info@devon-cornwall-libdems.org.uk>

Lib Dem MPs Step Up Fight Against Tax Office Cuts

February 26, 2007 10:17 AM

Cornwall's MPs have met with the Public and Commercial Services Union as part of their campaign against planned Government cuts to Cornwall 's Revenue & Customs local offices.

The Government plans to cut Cornish HMRC centres in Penzance , Launceston and Redruth, which employ up to ninety members of staff and serve large areas, down to as few as four members of mobile staff, not based in centres, within the next three years. Many of the jobs are being transferred to larger centres in Plymouth , Exeter and Bristol .

Matthew Taylor, MP for Truro & St Austell said:

"The Government is in effect taking hundreds of quality jobs out of Cornwall . The many people who find themselves in need of assistance with what is an extraordinarily complicated tax system will no longer get a local service. How, for example, are pensioners, the disabled and low income families going to get advice on accessing their tax credits - millions of pounds of which already go unclaimed each year because the system is so unclear?

"It doesn't make sense that on the one hand the Government claim to recognise Cornwall as the poorest county in the country, forever promising to help, but on the other are taking jobs, revenue and growth out of the county. This is yet another example of Cornwall paying the price for a lack of joined-up policy."

Julia Goldsworthy, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson and MP for Falmouth and Camborne said:

"Staff in Cornwall are dedicated and provide a quality service in the county and further a field. If the Government is serious about cutting back inefficiencies it needs to make the system simpler and not slash frontline jobs."

"The HMRC office in Redruth employs 90 people and is therefore a significant employer in my constituency. Closing this office would have a devastating impact on the local area, not just in terms of unemployment but it will also undermine the current regeneration work in the area.

"The Government likes to talk about the importance of sustainable communities, but by withdrawing front line services, it is only making it increasingly difficult for our local towns and villages to survive."