Stephen Morgan and Anneliese Dodds attended the Portsmouth HMRC Office Lynx House ahead of planned closure
The so-called ‘modernisation’ of HMRC operations across the country is really just a guise for massive cuts and closures that will end up costing the Treasury more than its saving – this is the warning today from Stephen Morgan MP and Shadow Treasury Secretary, Anneliese Dodds.
The Government plans to close all offices in Portsmouth, with Lynx House to follow Wingfield House which has already been shut down.
The Conservatives’ ‘Building for Our Future’ programme will close and replace the regional operations of 43 offices with just two ‘hubs’ in Stratford and Croydon.
Portsmouth South MP, Stephen Morgan, has expressed his fears about the impact of the new hub system on customs preparedness, in the light of additional pressures from Brexit, a topic he has been investigating in his role on the Public Accounts Committee.
Stephen Morgan MP, said:
“Shutting down Portsmouth’s HMRC offices isn’t just going to cost our city jobs, it’s going to end up costing the Treasury money.
These are extremely skilled people and in cutting their roles the Government is losing valuable expertise in tax collection and evasion and customs handling.
It’s yet another example of disastrous short-termism from the Government. The HMRC workforce is already down 30% since 2007 and, as we head for Brexit, pressure is only go to increase on our customs workers.
The Tories need to have a serious rethink.”
