Mike Hancock News
MP welcomes some good news on Land Registry jobs but says they should go further
Mike Hancock, Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South who is also a Portsmouth City Councillor has welcomed news that a "limited" Land Registry office will be kept in Portsmouth until 2013 and some jobs have been saved. The Justice Minister has said today in that "In recognition of the particular local circumstances that justify a longer transition period, Land Registry intends to maintain a reduced presence in Portsmouth until 31 March 2013 by co-locating with Portsmouth City Council. Land Registry currently employs 205 staff at its Portsmouth office and expects the reduced presence to be for up to 50 staff. It also expects 7 staff to retire by 28 February 2011."
Mike Hancock said: "I am disappointed that the review has not gone further and recommended that an office will be kept open in Portsmouth beyond 2013. I am pleased, following vigorous representations from myself, the council, the unions and others, following the offer from the council of sharing office accommodation, that we have saved 50 badly needed jobs in Portsmouth for three years. And I obviously hope that the remaining staff will find jobs within the land registry, particularly at Croydon.
"I called the original plans "barking mad" and there is some recognition of that in today's announcement. However these proposals are still to a degree "half baked". There is a recognition in today's announcement of the need for local offices and also that it makes sense to share office accommodation with councils and other Government departments to cut costs and to put money into jobs and services and not bricks and mortar. I believe though that there is a strong need for local offices and Central Southern England will be the only area without a local office. I hope that we can also get the Land Registry and the Government to change their mind about closing the Portsmouth office in three years' time. Today they have acknowledged the logic of the points that I and others have been putting forward but they need to take that to its ultimate conclusion which is that there should be a full, continuing office in Portsmouth. I am writing to the Land Registry and the Minister to make that point. I will also be campaigning over the next three years against closure in 2013."
Notes:
A previous press release on this is at http://www.mikehancock.co.uk/news/503/34/Mike-fights-land-registry-job-losses/
And Mike also supported EDM 201 against Land Registry closures which is at http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=39741&SESSION=903
Click here to read a letter from the Rt Hon Michael Wills MP, Minister of State for the Ministry of Justice, on the topic of the Accelerated Transformation Programme. Alternatively, copy and paste the following link in to your browser -
http://www.mikehancock.co.uk/uploads/PDFs/100317_HMLR_ATP.pdf
Share this page:
