Plans to move 225 Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) employees from Caerphilly to Treforest have moved a step closer.
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council approved proposals for a new DWP headquarters in Treforest on Thursday, 16 August, a move expected to bring an additional 1,500 jobs to the area when it opens in 2021.
The plans for the new centralised headquarters would see 761 employees relocated to Treforest from across Newport, Cwmbran and Caerphilly.
In June, members of Caerphilly County Borough Council called for the UK Government to reconsider relocating the DWP office located in Caerphilly town centre.
Concerns remain over public transport links between Caerphilly and Treforest, with only 444 car parking spaces and 170 cycle spaces planned at the new headquarters.
Cllr James Pritchard said: “It doesn’t make sense to take jobs away from Caerphilly at a time when the council is embarking on its own regeneration plans.
“Over 200 jobs could be lost from the town centre to an area where public transport is very, very bad.”
The move is also opposed by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents DWP employees.
A spokesman for PCS described the development as a “costly and wholly unnecessary exercise”, adding: “PCS would challenge any suggestion that [RCT] council is helping to bring ‘new jobs’ to Treforest.
“These are posts that the DWP is seeking to take away from communities elsewhere in south Wales, which can ill afford to lose this work.
“The travelling distances involved in getting to the planned new office mean that a large proportion of the current staff would be unable to relocate – they would therefore be forced out of the civil service and the department would lose their skills and expertise.”
A UK government spokeswoman said: “Through our investment in Treforest we are securing quality employment for the next generation.
“The site will accommodate existing staff from five sites with the potential for an additional 400 to 450 new jobs once open.
“Whilst we understand concerns raised about transport, the site is strategically placed to take advantage of the public transport upgrades being developed by the Welsh Government as part of the South Wales Metro.”
And so we will have yet another vacant business premises in Caerphilly which will no doubt remain vacant for some time.
Not tomention the loss of local jobs.
Staff who travel to the new location will have quite some time before the South Wales Metro becomes a reality…….suggesting that these jobs will be lost to those living in the vicinity of Trefforest/Pontypridd and Taffs Well/ Cardiff.