Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke MP Pamela Nash has written to the new Prime Minister urging him to stop the closure of Motherwell’s Johnstone House.
The building on Airbles Road currently houses almost 500 DWP staff. The department plans to close it and relocate staff to Atlantic Quay in Glasgow as part of estate rationalisation.
Meeting with Minister for Transformation
Following the announcement of its proposed closure, Nash met with the Minister for Transformation in Westminster to raise her concerns. She has now written to Andy Burnham to ask him to intervene and halt the closure.
Nash’s letter states: “The proposed relocation of roles from Johnstone House to Glasgow risks removing an important public sector presence from my constituency.
“Many members of staff have built their working lives around employment in Motherwell. For some, relocation is not a realistic option and will result in experienced public servants leaving the civil service altogether. Losing that expertise would benefit neither the department nor the communities it serves.
“We cannot enact devolution around the country and then concentrate UK Government presence in our cities and pull out of our towns.
“I know that you wish to retain opportunities and quality employment beyond our city centres and retaining Johnstone House would send a powerful message that this Government is committed not only to modernising the civil service, but also to sustaining the towns that rely upon it.”
Nash hopes for intervention
Nash said she hoped the new Prime Minister would be able to intervene and help keep Johnstone House operational in Motherwell. She said: “While there will be no compulsory redundancies with the closure of Johnstone House, shutting it would have a devastating impact on the employees themselves and the wider local area.
“I hope that as he settles into his new role, the Prime Minister will have the chance to review the proposals and agree with me that Johnstone House staff belong in Motherwell.”
DWP response
A DWP spokesperson said the department’s plans were part of measures to consolidate the department’s estate to make it “smaller”, “more effective” and “deliver better value for money for the taxpayer”.
“Through this transition we have been focusing on supporting our staff, with redeployment within the department or in other government departments our first priority,” the spokesperson said. “There is no face-to-face customer contact at the affected sites and the other vital services we deliver to customers are unaffected.”
DWP said voluntary redundancy would only be considered as a last resort, after redeployment options have been fully explored.
