Centralising jobs wrong in practice & principle: Rhun ap Iorwerth calls for spreading Government jobs across the country

A Plaid Cymru government would fight for the reversal of the decision to close HMRC offices across Wales, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Economy Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said.

After tabling an emergency question to Ministers in Cardiff Bay, Rhun ap Iorwerth AM said that the closure of these HMRC offices would not only be a major blow to HMRC employees, but would hit the supply chain too.

Last week it was announced that HMRC offices in Wrexham, Porthmadog and Swansea will be closed. The Wrexham office employs about 350 staff, Swansea 300 and the Porthmadog office, which houses HMRC’s Welsh-language call centre, about 20 workers.

With every 100 public job supporting 30 in the private sector, around 200 more jobs could be at risk from this move.

Challenging the Labour Welsh Government on what they’re doing to fight these job cuts Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Economy Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said:

“The announcement of the closure of the Wrexham, Swansea and Porthmadog sites last week came as a heavy blow to nearly 800 employed there, and we fear hundreds more jobs could be lost private companies supplying those offices.

“It is an important matter of principle as well as a matter of economic importance that government employment is not centralised, and is spread out among the population.

“The people of Wales now expect the Welsh Government to act in their interests, to fight for these jobs, and to insist that there is no degradation of the ability of tax office staff in Wales to deal with the tax affairs of Welsh businesses and citizens.

“The news that all tax offices in Wales outside Cardiff are to close by 2021 is a damning indictment of Tory priorities. The Labour government should stand up for Wales’ interests and make it a priority to put forward the case for a reversal of this decision.”