Warning of civil service strike over proposal to close National Statistics HQ

Published on Wednesday 17 January 2007 00:06

UNION leaders yesterday hit out at "shock" plans to close the headquarters of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), warning that the move increased the threat of a national civil service strike.

Officials said closure of the London office would cost up to 600 jobs, hit the ethnic profile of staff and lead to the loss of economic experts.

The Public and Commercial Services union said staff were "livid" at the news. Tens of thousands of civil servants are already being balloted for industrial action in a dispute over jobs and pay.

The union said it feared there could be up to 200 compulsory redundancies and pledged to fight the plan. It claimed 75 million had been spent on modernising the ONS but warned of computer problems and gaps in funding.

"The organisation is in freefall," said one official. "They plan to have just a token presence in London but we have major concerns about the effect on the credibility of the organisation."

The ONS has recommended all statistical work move from London, cutting staff from 600 to no more than100 by 2010, leaving Newport, south Wales, as corporate headquarters.

The proposal was part of moves to relocate civil service jobs away from London, said the ONS, adding: "It would help meet relocation targets and reduce accommodation costs but it would also reduce risks associated with working from split sites."