Telford Council will fight to retain over 3,000 under-threat jobs
A council will fight to retain more than 3,000 jobs which remain under threat because of plans by HM Revenue and Customs to contract out some of its services.
Councillor Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said the authority would do everything in its power to ensure staff were maintained at HMRC, Fujitsu and CapGemini.
He said he would also be writing to the Government to put forward the council's case.
IT giant CapGemini supplies software for HMRC while Fujitsu supplies hardware and design. Both have offices in Telford.
It comes after resident Simon Malpass asked the council if it would fight to retain the jobs if HMRC went ahead with its plans.
HMRC re-negotiated its Aspire IT contract with CapGemini three years ago, but in the past six months reports have surfaced that the outsourcing deal could be scrapped in June 2017.
Mr Malpass, speaking during last week's meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "What can the council do to prevent potential job losses in the Telford Town Centre currently provided by these major employers?"
Councillor Sahota said: "There are 3,000 jobs provided by IT systems and other support networks in the borough. If we lost those jobs it would have an impact on the whole of the local economy, the housing market, council tax – it would have an impact on everything."
He said the businesses affected had supported the community by sponsoring local football teams, the restoration of Dawley Town Hall and with voluntary work. "I cannot stress enough the importance of these companies to the area," he said.
"I will be writing to the responsible Government minister and putting our case forward for the importance of retaining these jobs."
