Kirsty Williams stands up for Brecon tax office workers

9.51.38am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 14th Mar 2007

Kirsty with Brecon tax Office Workers at the National Assembly

Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, Kirsty Williams, has accused the Welsh Assembly Government of failing to support rural Wales after it refused to condemn the job losses planned for the Brecon tax office.

During a debate on public service employment in Wales, Ms Williams stressed the importance of these jobs to the local economy, and expressed her concern that the Labour Assembly Government seemed unaware that work was already being moved out of Brecon.

Ms Williams said: "These are relatively well paid jobs, with good terms and conditions, in an area that has few similar employment opportunities. Plans to move the jobs to Cardiff do not only mean that wages currently spent in the local area will be spent elsewhere, it is also effectively a redundancy notice to the largely female staff, who will for the most part be unable to relocate due to caring responsibilities and the distance the commute would entail.

"The Minister claims that there is no need to worry, that it is only a consultation and that nothing has been decided. She needs to know that the Westminster Government is already moving work out of the Brecon office - when the consultation begins in 2008, it will already be too late. She mentioned the need to safeguard jobs in North-East Wales, and in the constituencies occupied by her party colleagues, but she made no mention of the need to safeguard jobs in rural Wales. We need an Assembly Government willing to take a robust stance for the whole of Wales, and this Labour administration consistently fails to do so."

Notes:

Following pressure from opposition parties, a debate was held at the Assembly last Wednesday on public service employment in Wales. Kirsty Williams tabled an amendment - "The National Assembly for Wales deplores the job losses in HM Revenue and Customs offices in communities across Wales, which are the result of the Treasury's cost-cutting targets" - which the Government refused to support.

HM Revenue and Customs are currently conducting a 'rationalisation' in attempts to save money. Their plans are expected to lead to the loss of 5,000 civil service jobs in Wales by 2008, although the consultation on their plans has yet to begin.

32 people are employed at the tax office in Brecon, some of whom came to the Assembly on Wednesday to meet Ms Williams. Please find attached a photo taken during the visit. Work traditionally done by this office is already being sent elsewhere, leading to fears that the outcome of any consultation is a forgone conclusion and the office has been set up to fail.

The full transcript of this, and all other, Assembly debates is available at www.wales.gov.uk.