You are currently viewing Stockton Council fights to save Insolvency Office

Stockton Council fights to save Insolvency Office

Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham has welcomed the passing of Stockton Council’s motion calling for the proposed closure of the Stockton Insolvency Service to be halted.

The council have been working closely together alongside union representatives who have handed three copies of a petition, signed by over 2,000 Teessiders, to Alex as well as the Stockton South and Redcar MPs to be delivered to ministers at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills calling on the government to drop plans to close Stockton Insolvency Service office.

MPs across Teesside and beyond are working together to save the office which currently delivers an invaluable service to people from throughout the Tees Valley and large parts of North Yorkshire and County Durham and is depended upon by an increasing number of people who need help and advice when they are at their most vulnerable, both financially and emotionally.

However it has been proposed that the service should now be located in Tyneside at a cost of £35m, which will have devastating consequences for those who cannot afford the huge costs of travelling to Tyneside.

Alex said:

“I very much welcome the passing of the Council’s motion which calls to stop the proposed closure of the Insolvency Service in Stockton as I am simply at a loss to understand the plans to move the service from Stockton. Not only will it mean the loss of a greatly valued local service, but also a significant number of staff will be forced to move more than 40 miles away to work.

“With rising unemployment, particularly in areas like Teesside which are disproportionately affected by the loss of public service jobs, there is every likelihood that more people will find themselves in the most difficult of circumstances and require the support of the Insolvency Service.

“Spending £35m on a re-organization that no-one wants is simply unacceptable and I hope the government will reconsider this urgently.”