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AllanT
09-Jun-11, 18:52
The campaign to save the 20 jobs at Wick Tax Office goes on.

HMRC have been offered low cost accommodation by HIE to enable them to make savings but at the same time retain the 20 jobs in Wick. The campaign has exerted considerable pressure on HMRC at a time they are taking people on in the large cities in an effort to address the estimated 70bn lost due to tax evasion each year. Hopefully the savings on accommodation will provide a solution where everyone is happy.

As a final push we have set up an online petition at the following link -

http://wickwants.epetitions.net/

Please sign and show your support.

Torvaig
09-Jun-11, 19:01
Done; good luck to you and hope good sense prevails.....

cherokee
09-Jun-11, 19:08
also signed.....wishing you all the very best of luck !

Bazeye
10-Jun-11, 02:04
Done....................

pat
10-Jun-11, 10:31
signed ....................

pmcd
10-Jun-11, 10:49
Done. Good luck to you all.

ducati
10-Jun-11, 11:58
Done, good luck

Tubthumper
10-Jun-11, 21:28
Signed. Hoping common sense and decency prevail!:roll:

Dialyser
10-Jun-11, 21:49
Done. Hope it works.

weezer 316
13-Jun-11, 12:00
Done, but please dont peddle such utter nonsense as £70bn a year in tax evasion. People on here believe such tripe and spread ti as gospel

catran
13-Jun-11, 19:43
Yip save the jobs , it would appear jobs few and far between

kani
17-Jun-11, 18:08
I also signed this petition, come on what are you waiting for? It only takes a few seconds to sign and could make a real difference to those affected!!

chordie
25-Jun-11, 08:47
HMRC have been offered low cost accommodation by HIE As HIE is funded by the taxpayer, then this option represents no saving at all - it just moves the numbers from one public sector spreadsheet to another.
effort to address the estimated 70bn lost due to tax evasion each year.Part of the reason we have such huge tax avoidance is because your ultimate boss, Dave Hartnett, keeps doing deals with big companies such as Vodafone etc - they take him out to dinner and he lets them off paying billions.

orkneycadian
25-Jun-11, 15:23
Where been Chordie? Been quiet round here without you! ;)

AllanT
25-Jun-11, 16:26
As HIE is funded by the taxpayer, then this option represents no saving at all - it just moves the numbers from one public sector spreadsheet to another. Part of the reason we have such huge tax avoidance is because your ultimate boss, Dave Hartnett, keeps doing deals with big companies such as Vodafone etc - they take him out to dinner and he lets them off paying billions.

Chordie, As far as who pays for accomodation HMRC are probably currently paying over the odds to a property company so paying a more realistic amount to HIE for a unit currently lying empty might well represent a decent saving for the taxpayer and of course with the added benefit of retaining government jobs in the county.

Can't argue with you on your second point!

Bill Fernie
28-Jun-11, 00:22
Hi Allen
You might want to consider a petition to the Prime Minister. This sytem uised to be on the 10 Downing Street web site but was closed down and is being moved to the Direct Gov website and due to start up again July 2011. see http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_066327

weezer 316
30-Jun-11, 12:03
Chordie and all the other tax avoidance nutters,


http://www.tuc.org.uk/touchstone/Missingbillions/1missingbillions.pdf

Thats the TUC. Again I state that's the TUC. They estimate, at best guess, £25bn is lost a year. Page 3 if you cant be bothered reading.

I read a report not long ago from the Guardian saying the tax avoidance totalled between £8-13bn.

These are left leaning (or in the case of the TUC laying on their left side) organisations who will likely paint a worst case scenario.

You are plucking figures out of thin air and banding them about as fact. Utter nonsense.

chordie
30-Jun-11, 14:30
Chordie and all the other tax avoidance nutters. You poor creature, it must be very difficult for you to hear with your head buried so deeply in that sand.

weezer 316
01-Jul-11, 15:00
Indeed. Thanfully there seems to be sense in the sand, unlike in the real world with your good self where the UK loses £70bn a year in tax and Elvis lives in Reiss.

Get. a. grip. Please. Thank. You.

AllanT
05-Jul-11, 22:33
Campaign Badges now available!

Actual Dimensions 30mm x 20mm approx, enamel.
With the petition at http://wickwants.epetitions.net still on the go, we are happy to announce that you can now display your support for the Wick Wants Work campaign (and donate to the PCS Revenue & Customs Group Hardship Fund) through the purchase of one of these limited edition enamel badges. The first 500 have been produced in silver and dark blue, and are available at the price of £3 each (although donations of more are greatly appreciated from those who can afford it) or £2.50 each for orders of more than one.

If you would like to buy a badge (or badges) please email Drummondpcs (at) AOL (dot) com. Trade Union Branches wishing to order a larger number can do so on a sale or return basis.

EDIT: A limited run of 10 badges are being sold on auction site eBay - these badges will be accompanied by a personalised letter of thanks from the campaign and some stickers. 5 are currently up, the first being at the link below - bidding opens at £3 (plus P&P) and after fees all of the bid price (and any change from actual postage costs possibly being slightly lower) will again go to the hardship fund.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hardship-Fund-PCS-trade-union-badge-Wick-Wants-Work-/170663422982?pt=UK_Collectables_Badges_Patches_MJ&hash=item27bc552c06%20

AllanT
20-Jul-11, 18:59
Just a quick update to confirm the news delivered to the staff today that the closure of the office has been delayed by another 2 years until sometime in 2014. In effect three years from now so in a lot of ways that is more job security than a lot of people have. All the staff and their families are delighted with this and grateful for all the support we have had from John Thurso and countless others that have persuaded HMRC to make this unprecedented move.

Unfortunately according to HMRC is is only a reprieve and they still see no future for the office after 2014. Obviously we disagree so the campaign to provide a long term future for the staff and retain the employment in Caithness will go on after a wee holiday. We all know that the people in Caithness are more than capable of doing as good a job if not better than those of any other area in the country so will not accept being second best.

Bill Fernie
13-Oct-11, 21:49
By agreement with the team fighting the closure of Wick Tax Office we will unstick the thread. It is intended to come back to it in about 6 months time and check again if the campaign can be continued. The Wick tax office has two year reprieve but the intention is still the same - to close the office or reduce it to a couple of part time staff dealing with enquiries. There is still little doubt that staff at Wick could deal with a range of work from anywhere in the UK.

Well done to everyone involved in the campaign to achieve the reprieve. We still hope that in the long run the far north will still have representatives of HMRC working in Wick.

Garnet
13-Oct-11, 22:47
I sincerely hope the 'fight' to retain our local office as the 'other' option is in my personal experience a total waste of time and money especially after the travesty of the 'TAX' situation last year. So all power to their elbow and remember you just don't know the minute you'll need them yourself.