More Sheffield job losses?

[InigoMontoya 10]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34796299

 

"Isolated" Tax offices to be shut and replaced with "Regional Centres".

 

"HMRC has too many expensive, isolated and outdated offices. This makes it difficult for us to collaborate, modernise our ways of working, and make the changes we need to transform our service to customers and clamp down further on the minority who try to cheat the system," said Lin Homer, HMRC's chief executive.

 

Go on. Guess where "isolated" Sheffield's office is going to be.

[tinfoilhat 11]

Cumbernauld.

[geared 317]

Although a couple of betting firms are creating a few hundred jobs in the area as well, so swings and roundabouts.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34789734

[woodmally 10]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34796299

 

"Isolated" Tax offices to be shut and replaced with "Regional Centres".

 

 

 

Go on. Guess where "isolated" Sheffield's office is going to be.

 

Well I've commuted to Leeds before it's not that hard. If you can't find a job in this city commute.

[minion 10]

Although a couple of betting firms are creating a few hundred jobs in the area as well, so swings and roundabouts.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34789734

 

Great news. lost lots of high paid jobs and replace it will minimum wage ones. those betting firm will suck dry more of local people money

[geared 317]

Yea it's not too bad, but you're in a bind if you want to work and park in the city centre.

 

Getting the train is abit of a chore, it's an hour on the fast one - add in travel to and from the station and the commute can total over 3 hours a day

[InigoMontoya 10]

Great news. lost lots of high paid jobs and replace it will minimum wage ones. those betting firm will suck dry more of local people money

 

And the tax-office is one of the (few remaining?) walk-in free-to-access government buildings whose job is to help to stop you from going to gaol.

[skyfitsboy 10]

And the tax-office is one of the (few remaining?) walk-in free-to-access government buildings whose job is to help to stop you from going to gaol.

 

The Sheffield Tax office hasn't been open to the public for about two years now, in fact HMRC closed the last of its 281 walk in enquiry centres in July last year

[taxman 12]

The Sheffield Tax office hasn't been open to the public for about two years now, in fact HMRC closed the last of its 281 walk in enquiry centres in July last year

 

Yep, the excuse was that footfall had fallen so much it was a waste of money keeping them open. In reality restricted opening times and a new appointments system meant that the people were discouraged from going to enquiry centres. Excom (HMRC bigwigs) could then go to the public accounts committee and use the drop in numbers to justify the closures.

 

Digital by Default is the Government's preferred method for people to access it's services, that's why they close offices and don't answer 50% of calls, or leave you hanging on the line for an hour.

 

The best way of channeling people down a certain route is to block the other routes.

 

Anyway, the new office in Leeds has got to be built yet to house 4400 people. Due to open 2020, Sheffield office due to close 2020-21.

 

But when did any big Govt project run on time?

[WiseOwl182 10]

I don't necessarily disagree with consolidating the offices, but what does annoy me is that Sheffield always seems to lose out to Leeds and Manchester with this kind of thing. There are barely any large private sector employers in Sheffield, all the jobs are in Leeds and Manchester. Now the public sector jobs are moving away too, I do fear for the future of the city.

 

Commuting to Leeds isn't for the faint hearted and certainly not ideal for those with a family. For anyone living at the decent end of Sheffield, it's a good 30 - 40 mins just to get on to/back from the M1. As for Manchester, the roads are barely passable for a quarter of the year, and very slow for the rest of it. Trains are slow and expensive. More and more people will just choose to up and leave Sheffield, over time.

[Funky_Gibbon 42]

For a Government supposedly interested in cutting the deficit they sure are making it difficult for this country to actually collect taxes...

 

The Treasury, who oversee HMRC, has already agreed a 40% cut in funding by 2020 and whatever reasons HMRC might give for doing this the bottom line is that they're cutting back on their offices, and the staff employed by them, to pay for that cut. Everything else is just window-dressing.

[taxman 12]

For a Government supposedly interested in cutting the deficit they sure are making it difficult for this country to actually collect taxes...

 

The Treasury, who oversee HMRC, has already agreed a 40% cut in funding by 2020 and whatever reasons HMRC might give for doing this the bottom line is that they're cutting back on their offices, and the staff employed by them, to pay for that cut. Everything else is just window-dressing.

 

The excuse is that reducing 170 offices to 13 will enable them to "do more for less"

 

In the long term I can see their plan, I bank online and never want to enter a bank building, but I have confidence in my bank's security protocols, experience has taught most people not to be confident in Govt gateways, so although HMRC insist on pushing people to online and digital there is still some way to go before persuading everyone.

 

And when was the last time a major Govt IT project was delivered on time, in budget, and worked....never