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21.04.16

Information on BIS Sheffield job losses ‘wholly unsatisfactory’

Provision of information about potential job losses following the closure of the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) office in Sheffield by the government has been “unsatisfactory and misleading”, chairs of two parliamentary committees have warned.

Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), wrote to Martin Donnelly, permanent secretary at BIS, seeking information about potential scenarios for job losses or changes following the closure of the office in 2018.

Donnelly replied on 13 April: “No specific decisions about the future of BIS jobs in Sheffield or other sites have yet been taken, nor will any be taken until the end of the formal consultation process currently underway.

“There can therefore be no accurate figures about the future distribution of posts within the department at this stage since relevant decisions have yet to be made. As a result, it is not possible to provide figures on the savings over time, which depends on restructuring decisions about the longer term shape of the department and its partner bodies.”

Hillier and Iain Wright, chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills committee, replied yesterday clarifying that they are seeking information about different scenarios in relation to the closure of the office and the potential transfer of posts to London.

They said: “Our committees have responsibilities to examine the administration and expenditure of your department. The information relating to the reorganisation of the department that you have provided so has been wholly unsatisfactory and your answers in oral evidence have been obfuscatory, if not misleading.

“Your refusal to disclose the information we have sought is unhelpful, unjustified and is impeding our ability to fulfil our scrutiny functions.”

They asked Donnelly to provide them with copies of a document entitled “BIS 2020 Finance and Headcount Outline” and any documents which have informed decisions relating to the closure of the BIS Sheffield office ahead of his appearance before the PAC next Wednesday.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU), which will open a strike ballot of members affected by the closure next Wednesday, said: "BIS's retreat from Sheffield goes against all the government's northern powerhouse rhetoric and what ministers claim to want for the civil service. BIS must come clean on its plans, including full costings, for Sheffield and the wider department."

(Image c. Stefan Rousseau from PA Archive/ Press Association Images)

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