Almost a thousand jobs in Newport and the Valleys could be lost because of Government plans to move them to Cardiff, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union.
The warning comes after the PCS union analysed the Department of Work and Pensions’ plans for civil service offices in South Wales. They say the proposal will close offices in Caerphilly, Merthyr, Newport and Porth, merging them into a single office in the capital city. The plans are part of a number of changes to DWP services in South Wales.
Darren Williams from the PCS says it’s unrealistic to expect staff to follow their jobs to Cardiff: “The distances we’re talking about and the fact that many of the staff in question have some mobility issues will mean that a lot of those staff won’t be able to travel with the work. Although the jobs are not being cut altogether, in effect the people who currently do those jobs will lose them and the department will have to employ new staff in the Cardiff area to do much of that work.”
The DWP have disagreed with the figures. A spokesperson said: “This report by the PCS is not only wrong, but extremely misleading. All staff will be given the option to relocate to new premises as we intend to keep any job losses to an absolute minimum.
“Our proposals will provide a more efficient service and make sure we cut down on underused office space as more people access support online or over the phone.”
They added: “In total it’s expected that across the whole of the UK there may not be more than 750 job losses – so the 1000 job losses PCS quotes is wholly inaccurate.”
