Herts24

Euro MP Richard Howitt

PLANS to axe 280 jobs and close Stevenage Land Registry office will be slammed by Hertfordshire Euro MP Richard Howitt as short-sighted and cruel when he joins with Land Registry workers and union leaders and meets local management on Friday (November 20).

He will hear how the plans to close all of the East of England Land Registry offices, and privatise some services will leave employees with no chance of transferring to other sites and will not offer value for money to the tax payer.

Mr Howitt said: "The plans put forward by the Land Registry offer no hope to the 280 families that will be affected if the Stevenage office closes. They leave very little realistic chance that staff could transfer to other office as many face closure too.

"The suggestion to axe so many jobs and lose years of valuable experience only to re-employ new people as the housing market picks up is madness. It is disrespectful to staff members, hard on their families and will do nothing for the quality of the service provided to the public.

"As the Land Registry knows, now is not the time to be selling off business property. To talk about cutting 280 jobs in today's economic climate for short-term financial gain with little consideration for staff is not only bad news for employees but bad news for tax payers.

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