Oral Answers to Questions

Jessica Morden Excerpts

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

Clearly, the issue of access to cross-border services is a matter of concern both to patients and practitioners in Wales. The Wales Office is closely engaged on this matter with the Department of Health and with the Welsh Assembly Government.

[Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)]

4. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Justice on the Ministry of Justice’s shared services centre in Newport.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Stephen Crabb)]

The Wales Office is in close contact with the Ministry of Justice, which is still at an early stage in evaluating options for the shared services centre in Newport. The Government are committed to ensuring that services are delivered efficiently, while providing value for money for taxpayers.

[Jessica Morden]

In December, hundreds of workers at the MOJ’s shared services centre in Newport learned that their jobs could be privatised, and obviously the work force has great concern that jobs could be outsourced or offshored, as we have seen with the Government’s model. Given the bad news that Newport received last week with the potential loss of jobs at Avana Bakeries, will the Minister speak up for public sector workers in Newport and tell the MOJ to abandon its plans?

[Stephen Crabb]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. On the point about Avana Bakeries, she should be aware that I spoke to that company on Friday afternoon; the scenario is obviously very difficult for the city of Newport.

On the shared services centre, the evaluation of options is, as I said in my initial answer, at an early stage, but the Government will work with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess any impact on staff. We are very mindful of the jobs impact on the hon. Lady’s constituency.