Land Registry Office (Peterborough) debate
Shailesh Vara takes part in a debate led by Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson on the possible loss of 300 jobs at the Peterborough Land Registry and calls for such highly-skilled people to be found alternative positions.
Mr. Shailesh Vara (North-West Cambridgeshire) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. I have an interest in the matter as I have an adjoining constituency to his in which some of those who face unemployment reside. Does he agree that those people are extremely talented individuals and well experienced in the field in which they work? It will be a loss to the Land Registry if they are not properly looked after, but are simply discarded. Their skills are invaluable in assessing the job that they do.
Mr. Jackson: It is perverse that the Land Registry proposes to dispense with the services of people with knowledge, skills and experience gained over a number of years when it recruits new people who do not have that level of skill and expertise.
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Mr. Vara: I am grateful to the Minister for giving way and I shall be brief. Given that the property market is showing signs that it might pick up in the not-too-distant future, and assuming that that will happen, does not the Minister think that now may be the wrong time to get rid of people involved in the property business and in registering property transactions? We do not know when the market will pick up, but it can go only one way.
Mr. Wills: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his gesture of confidence in the Labour Government and their administration of the economy. I am not sure that he altogether intended that compliment, but I accept it.
I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman makes. It has been made by several hon. Members over the past few months. It is important to recognise that the transformation programme is not being driven by the present property market. As we all know, the downturn has been savage, but there are signs that the market is picking up. No one knows quite how far or how fast, but my expectation, like his, is that it will return to growth. However, that is not the only thing driving the transformation programme.