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Answered by David Miliband

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Answered by Brandon Lewis MP

I find this a bizzare question and statement. I am on email, web, Facebook, Twitter and phone. At the very least all my literature has the email, website or a phone nubmer, any one of which will give... Show more »

I find this a bizzare question and statement. I am on email, web, Facebook, Twitter and phone.

At the very least all my literature has the email, website or a phone nubmer, any one of which will give you very fast access to our office and we are happy to do all we can to help.

My website: www.brandonlewis.org

Email: office@brandonlewis.org. I am also on Faceboom and twitter so that I can be accessed easily. Or feel free to call us on 01493 334004.

Answered by Brandon Lewis MP

This issue was raised in the House of Commons yesterday and the easiest way to answer you is to reproduce the section from Hansard (the official reocrd) of the exchange: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101101/debtext/101101-0001.htm#1011019000020 15.... Show more »

This issue was raised in the House of Commons yesterday and the easiest way to answer you is to reproduce the section from Hansard (the official reocrd) of the exchange:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101101/debtext/101101-0001.htm#1011019000020

15. Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab): What consultation her Department has undertaken on the future of the Newport Passport Office. [20313]

The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green): On 19 October, the Identity and Passport Service began a formal 90-day consultation period with the trade unions on the future of the passport application processing centre at Newport. In addition, as the hon. Lady knows, I have had meetings with her and the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flynn), the leader of Newport city council and the Secretary of State for Wales.

Jessica Morden: Will the Minister reassure me that the consultation on the future of Newport passport office is truly a consultation, in that he is genuinely listening to the concerns of people in Wales, including the 17,000 who have now signed the South Wales Argus petition on the future of the office and its staff?

Damian Green: I am happy to give the hon. Lady that assurance. She has quite rightly made her position perfectly clear in defending her constituents' jobs, and I would expect no less of her. I hope that she can help me correct the misunderstanding that has been put about that Wales is losing its passport office. It simply is not. The passport office delivering passports to people in Wales will remain in Newport.

Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab): Was the Minister impressed yesterday when the Conservative Assembly Member Darren Millar said on television that the Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly were united in their opposition to the closure of the Newport passport office and the Government's proposal? Will he provide an assurance that he will re-examine the matter, to ensure that cuts are made evenly across the United Kingdom and not concentrated in Newport?

Damian Green: As I just said to the hon. Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden), anticipating the hon. Gentleman's question, the passport office in Newport is not being closed. It is a simple untruth to say that it is. The passport office will remain open. Some 47,000 people a year use it, and they are very important to the economy of Newport. I have been told that in no uncertain terms
1 Nov 2010 : Column 605
by the Secretary of State for Wales. I am pleased that we are able to keep that passport office open, not just for those who will continue to work there but for the economy of Newport city centre.

Answered by Brandon Lewis MP

 i agree and will write to HMRC on this. It has not been helped by Labour moving our local Great Yarmouth HMRC office out of Havenbridge House and centralising them in Norwich. I had argued long and ... Show more »

 i agree and will write to HMRC on this. It has not been helped by Labour moving our local Great Yarmouth HMRC office out of Havenbridge House and centralising them in Norwich.

I had argued long and hard with HMRC and the Treasury to keep this office open and fully staffed and if there was a need to centralise then they should centralise (for jobs and costs purposes) in Great Yarmouth, not Norwich. I never got a satisfactory reply and it is so frustrating that by the time of the General Election result it was already too late to change this. I did contact the treasury to put a request in to review the change but Labour had pushed it through even quicker than their original announcement and it was too late as the jobs were already gone.