Following the annoucement that the Department for Education is planning to close the Castle View House office in Halton Lea, Graham is working hard with employees, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), and locally affected people to call for this decison to be reversed.
This petion will be presented to 10 Downing Street to demonsrate the strength of local feeling against the closure.
Please fill in you details to put your name to the petion stop the unnecessary job losses from Runcorn and save taxpayers money by reversing the decision to close Castle View House, Runcorn OR relocate the jobs to alternative accommodation in Runcorn.
The petion ask the Government to take into consideration:
- The impact on local community will be significant by removing 450 staff from the local area
- The loss of income to local shops and businesses
- Castle View House is a freehold (Government owned) property whereas the property in Manchester where Department for Education staff will be relocated to is an expensive leased property
- Five Government Departments currently based in Castle View House will be relocated, the majority outside of the Runcorn area
- High costs involved to relocate staff to Manchester
- Halton Borough Council have offered to accommodate Department for Education staff within Runcorn but this offer has been
- rejected
- Unemployment is already high in the area and staff have been employed in the Department for a number of years
- Arriva Trains Wales has acknowledged that there is not sufficient capacity within its trains to allow staff to travel from Runcorn, Frodsham and Helsby to Manchester at peak times
- The capacity on trains from Widnes to Manchester is also limited with no seats available on the peak time trains