Blow to shops as Archway Tower workers face move to Birmingham

Published: 12th November, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

UP to 200 civil servants based in Archway are to be redeployed to Birmingham from March next year under government plans announced this week.

Unions are fighting the move, which could trigger further economic woes in Archway, currently struggling to survive the recession.

Under the plan, revealed in the Tribune last year, staff  at the Offices of the Public Guardian at 17-storey Archway Tower will be moved north or redeployed across London over three years to save money.

The jobs of 250 civil servants who work for the Court of Protection, also based in the tower, are safe, at least for the time being. The move will be a blow to the local economy, where dozens of shops, cafés and restaurants make a good living out of the office workers. A mass demonstration of trade unionists is expected to be held outside the tower.

Phil Cosgrove, chairman of the Public and Commercial Services Union’s Islington branch, said the lowest-paid staff were being hit. He added: “Not only are we being told we have to go to Birmingham but we’ll also have to take a pay cut. On top of that the civil service doesn’t even intend to finance the relocation.” The unions are appalled that up to 30 senior executives will not have to move north.

Mr Cosgrove said he doubted that there would be enough jobs even for those who wanted to move. “The coalition government are working on a bill to reduce redundancy payments, which will hit the poorest paid workers,” he said. “Many people, including myself, have built their life in London and don’t want to move. I’m 53 and I’m likely to lose my job. I won’t get a job anywhere else.”

The Office of the Public Guardian staff visit thousands of mentally and physically disabled people in the South-east. 

Kate Calvert, chairwoman of the Better Archway Forum, said the loss of jobs would be a serious blow at a time when the area was trying to improve its image. She added: “These civil servants animate the area and spend their money here during the day and often in the evenings.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said that, while it would not pay relocation costs, salaries would be protected for three years. “The move is being done because the service is being expanded to cope with extra demand,” he added. “A range of staff will remain in London, not just administrators.”