Union claims Scottish Government's misleading Dundee civil servants

Union bosses are claiming the Scottish Government's gone back on plans to save hundreds of civil servant jobs in Dundee.

HMRC's closing its call centre at Sidlaw House in 2022 - potentially putting 300 people out of work.

PCS had hoped staff would be transferred to a soon to open central office in the city of discovery.

But David Lardner from the trade union said they've been misled.

"For a month now we've been trying to contact the Scottish Government to establish why these haven't been offered as an expression of interest as the impression our members were given.

"But they have not replied. Through HMRC and PCS we have heard that the Scottish Government is refusing to honour the undertaking but we haven't heard that directly from the Scottish Government.

"Our members are extremely angry."

But Social Security Secretary Shirley Ann Sommerville believes staff are being supported.

“We are actively promoting our vacancies and encouraging HMRC staff to apply for posts and providing support to do so, fully meeting the commitments that both HMRC and Social Security Scotland agreed to," she said

“The planned HMRC redundancies are several years away and there still needs to be a competitive process to ensure Social Security Scotland gets the best people for its jobs.

When fully operational Social Security Scotland will employ over 1900 people in Dundee, Glasgow and communities across the country.”

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