MORE than 250 jobs are at risk at the HMRC tax credits centre at The Waterfront in Brierley Hill, staff have told the News.

Workers thought they would be transferring to the Department of Work and Pensions to undertake universal credit work but they now face an uncertain future, they say, having been told they will now not be needed to undertake the work.

Tim Crumpton, lead local PCS union rep, said: “This is a huge shock. Only weeks ago, in October 2017, staff were told they would be staying in the office and would simply move from HMRC to DWP at some time in 2020 to 2021. This was later than we had been told two years ago but we thought this was because of the problems that universal credit was having.

"We are now told that DWP don't need us even though everyone knows that universal credit is in trouble and our extremely experienced staff would need very little training to take on the work.

"We even have staff from our office working now in Derby and Wolverhampton on universal credit because DWP can't cope."

He is now calling on MPs, MEPs, councillors and the Combined Authority and its Mayor to intervene and "back us in keeping local jobs for local people in an area that badly needs such jobs".

He added: "Merry Hill is an enterprise zone signed up to by the government last year, supposedly to attract new investment and jobs.

"This same government has now signed this office's death warrant because we know Number 10 were party to this decision.”

An HMRC spokesperson said: "In 2016, we announced that tax credits customer services advisers would be transferring to the Department for Work and Pensions to support the delivery of Universal Credit. "DWP will now be able to deliver as planned without the level of additional resource it originally expected, and so some of our customer service advisers will now no longer be transferred to DWP.

"We want to retain the skills, knowledge and experience of everyone affected by the decision. We will do everything we can to find alternative roles for our staff, as the tax credits work they do reduces in the years ahead."