South West and West Midlands Regional Reviews launched

Further Regional Reviews launched

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) today (Tuesday 20 February 2007) invited staff and unions to comment on proposals for reorganising its office accommodation in its South West Region urban centre and gave an update on continuing work to develop proposals for the urban centres in the North East. At the present time HMRC is not taking forward any proposals for the urban centres in the West Midlands region.

The reorganisation of office accommodation arises in part from the integration of the former Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise, which has led to HMRC having more space than it needs.
All Enquiry Centres will remain open in their current localities as will other sites serving a specific local purpose.

South West: the consultation covers the urban centre of Bristol and envisages accommodating staff in five or six buildings rather than the current nine. Initial planning suggests that by 2010, the number of HMRC jobs in this centre is likely to increase from 1,200 to 1,500. Our staff and trade unions have been invited to contribute to a two-month consultation for the South West, beginning today.

West Midlands: HMRC are not putting forward proposals for the urban centres of Birmingham and Telford at this time. An initial appraisal has shown that there is a good match between our staffing forecasts to 2010 and existing accommodation. Should business plans change such that accommodation savings become possible, proposals will be developed and published for consultation.

North East: HMRC is developing proposals for the two urban centres in this region. One of them, comprising Newcastle, Washington and Sunderland, is the largest urban centre in the UK accommodating over 12,000 staff. Initial proposals for the urban centres will be published once ongoing work on staffing forecasts has been completed.