50 jobs on the line if tax office closes

11:25am Friday 25th April 2008

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MORE than 50 jobs are under threat at Evesham's tax office, which is expected to be earmarked for closure within the next three months.

The staff of more than 50 at HM Revenue and Customs in Lower Leys will discover their fate by July, when a government review is completed.

The future of its offices in both Worcester and Evesham are under review, with at least one of them considered at risk, following the merger of the Inland Revenue with HM Customs & Excise.

But staff have been assured that the department has a policy of no compulsory redundancies and that if any jobs are lost people would be offered alternative positions either in other locations or with other Government departments.

Bob Gaiger of HM Revenue and Customs said the review followed from the merger of the tax collection and customs and excise functions.

"This is part of a national review and we began a consultation process in March that will continue until the middle of next month.

"I would expect a decision to be made in June or July after we have had the chance to consider all of the comments," he said.

People involved in the consultation include staff, customers, trade union representatives and Members of Parliament.

"After the two departments merged it was obvious that in some places we had too many offices.

"There have also been changes in the way that people do business and a lot more people now submit tax returns online so it was necessary to review how we serve our customers," added Mr Gaiger, who said no decision about the future of the Evesham office had been made.

However, it is understood that it is unlikely that both the Evesham and Worcester offices will remain open after the review and that at least one of them is likely to be axed.