Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)

- Hansard -

This is a petition of the residents of the United Kingdom, who declare that in November 2015 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the tax and revenue office, announced that the Walsall HMRC site will close in March 2017. This means that HMRC will no longer have a presence in Walsall. With the closure, over 60 permanent jobs will be lost from Walsall. There could be a loss of £1 million in the local economy. This loss will inevitably impact on businesses in the locality. The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons to urge HMRC to reverse the decision to close the Walsall HMRC site and carry out a full public consultation exercise on this closure. A petition in similar terms has been signed by 500 people.

Following is the full text of the petition:

[The petition of residents of the UK,

Declares that in November 2015 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced that the Walsall HMRC site will close in March 2017; further that HMRC will no longer have a presence in Walsall; further that this closure will result in over 60 permanent jobs losses in Walsall; further that this could lead to a loss of £1 million in the local economy; further that this loss will inevitably impact on businesses in the locality; and further that a local petition on a similar matter has been signed by 500 individuals.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges HMRC to reverse the decision to close the Walsall HMRC site and carry out a full public consultation exercise on this closure.

And the petitioners remain, etc.]