Strike is called over plans to move Archway Tower civil servants to Birmingham

Published: 29 April 2011
by PETER GRUNER

UP to 200 civil servants based in Archway will strike for the day next Tuesday over plans to redeploy them to Birmingham.

They will be joined on picket lines by Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn and Islington Council’s Labour leader Catherine West.

The relocation plan being launched next year will cost the Government £22 million and is expected to devastate the Archway’s economy.

Dozens of shops, cafes and restaurants make a good living out of the office workers based at 17-storey Archway Tower. The majority of workers, who have made their lives in the area, don’t want to be redeployed.

The civil servants work for the Office of the Public Guardian, which oversees the affairs of the mentally ill by providing the power of attorney for relatives.

Much of the work is expected to be disrupted by the dispute, which later is expected to include work to rule tactics and an overtime ban at various times of the year.

Phil Cosgrove, chairman of the Public and Commercial Services Union’s Islington branch, said: “Our department is being replaced by a poorly staffed, glorified call centre in Birmingham. People have got to uproot themselves for no good reason. The whole scheme is being rushed through without consideration for the costs and the effects on staff.” 

Mr Corbyn fears that with dozens of unused office blocks in the capital, the tower could remain empty for a long time. He added: “I have tried to persuade both the previous government and this one not to move the civil servants. It will ruin the local economy. The tower was originally built by London Transport in 1967 and has been a fantastic drain on public expenditure. 

“The OPG paid for an extremely expensive refurbishment of the building only a few years ago. I suspect the building will now revert to its former state of being empty.”

Kate Calvert, chairwoman of the Better Archway Forum, said the civil servants animate the area and spend their money there during the day and often in the evenings. “We hope that the tower doesn’t end up a white elephant.”

The move was recommended two years ago to the previous Labour Government by Sir Michael Lyons, who in his report called for 2,000 civil servants to be moved out of London. 

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “The Office of the Public Guardian has already seen growth in its business beyond expectations, and plans to continue to grow in the future. 

“Quite apart from the limits on capacity in Archway Tower, the nature of OPG business is such that we can and will provide a better and more cost-effective service through locating the majority of business away from London.”