19 January 2007
Government plans to effectively close the London headquarters of the Office for National Statistics are ill-conceived and will cause 'severe risks' to future data, senior staff have warned.
The FDA union, which represents senior public service staff, said the move was 'ill thought-through and inappropriate'.
Ro Marsh, FDA national officer, said: 'Communication with the Treasury, Bank of England and the Department of Trade and Industry will be weakened through the loss of expertise in London, at a time when many people believe this needs strengthening.'
Marsh warned that job cuts had already begun to affect the ONS's ability to deliver its new system of national accounts. ONS chiefs announced this week that 300 staff will leave the Pimlico office by April 2008. This follows cuts in London staffing numbers from 1,050 to fewer than 600 since 2004, before the ONS becomes independent in 2008.
From then, it will operate out of Newport in Wales, with just 50-100 staff in London.
The FDA and other unions are also concerned about the ONS's lack of consultation over the reorganisation.
PFjan2007
