BIS Sheffield office closure: Committees demand answers

Iain Wright, Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, and Meg Hillier, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, have called on the BIS Permanent Secretary to release information on the Department's estimate of the costs of closure of the Sheffield office and the transfer of posts to London.

The letter states the information provided by Martin Donnelly relating to the reorganisation of the Department has been “wholly unsatisfactory” with answers in oral evidence “obfuscatory, if not misleading”.

Chair's comments:

Iain Wright MP, Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee said:

"The Permanent Secretary's response to this most recent attempt by a Select Committee to establish the basis of the Department's decision to axe their Sheffield office simply isn't good enough. The Permanent Secretary is accountable for the use of public funds and needs to demonstrate the financial rationale and evidence-based business case for the decision to cut jobs in Sheffield and centralise policy making in London. The Permanent Secretary has a responsibility to enable us to scrutinise the running of his Department and disclose this information"

Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said:  

"The Government must be held properly to account for its decisions and use of public money. In this case, effective scrutiny is being undermined by the Department's most senior civil servant. Taxpayers deserve better from those working on their behalf. We expect the Permanent Secretary to respond swiftly and with clarity on the points of concern raised by our Committees, which includes releasing the information we have requested. Only then can the decision to close the BIS Sheffield office be properly scrutinised."

The letter requests this information prior to the appearance of the Permanent Secretary at the Public Accounts Committee on 27 April, when Members will examine witnesses on science capital spending.

Read the correspondence

Letter to Martin Donnelly from Iain Wright MP and Meg Hillier MP
Letter from Martin Donnelly to Meg Hillier MP

Image: PA