---

HMRC (Office Closures)

Again, that is an extremely valid response to an issue that affects Great Yarmouth, as well as other areas. Many of the jobs are part time, and people took them because they were flexible and allowed them to strike a work-life balance. I commend the Government's moves on equality to give women the opportunity to go back to work, but here we have the perverse opposite. The profession contains a large proportion of women, and I have anecdotal evidence of single mothers who will not be able to continue with their work but may be penalised by further legislation for not actually going to work. We are not giving them many opportunities, and, in area such as Great Yarmouth, that will have a profound effect on the economy. During the 2007 debate, the then Minister said that management would meet staff and discuss whether the proposed moved was""reasonable in the light of their circumstances". —[Official Report, 2 May 2007; Vol. 459, c. 477WH.]" I do not believe that that has happened, or that it was considered important. From my discussions and the letters that I have received, there is no doubt that many staff will not be able to commute to their new place of work. When I met the then chief executive, Paul Gray, at the insistence of the then Minister, Mr. Gray confirmed that those issues would be taken into account when considering the possibility of office closures. I left his office with a degree of comfort and thought that we had won the argument, because I knew the cases, arguments, difficulties and unemployment levels in my constituency. Back in 1989 we were at 20 per cent. unemployment. We constantly have the highest unemployment level in the eastern region and there are severe deprivation factors. Fortunately, during the last 10 or 12 years significant sums of Government money have been pumped into the regeneration of our new harbour and the integration programme, for example, and dozens of other projects, which have created a new impetus in the town to give us encouragement that we are combating unemployment there, even in the dire circumstances of the recession. I do not want another arm of the Government creating other difficulties in the difficult circumstances of the recession.