AN MP has issued a rallying cry for people to join her on a march against Government proposals to shut a DWP office in her constituency.

Campaigners trying to save 83 Child Support Agency jobs at Vinovium House, in Bishop Auckland, will hold a demonstration against the proposal to close the office next Saturday, March 18.

And Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman has urged people from across the county to turn out in force while there is still time to sway the minds of decision markers.

She said: “Now is the moment to concentrate on this and stand up and fight.

“It is no good thinking after the event ‘I wish we had done more to save those jobs’.

“I hope lots of people come to the march, this is an opportunity for the town to show solidarity for the people who work at Vinovium House and send a message to the DWP.”

Supporters are asked to assemble at Vinovium House at 11.30am to march through the town for a rally in the Market Place at 12.30pm.

Ms Goodman will speak along with Durham County Councillor for Bishop Auckland Joy Allen and Charlotte Metcalf, the PCS’s DWP Durham branch secretary.

In January the DWP revealed a proposal to close the office in March 2018 as it looks to reduce its estate and phase out the old child support system.

The DWP says it does not intend to make redundancies and consultation with staff, who could be relocated, is ongoing but Ms Goodman has branded the process useless.

She said: “The one-to-one interviews currently being conducted are a sham.

“Staff are being asked to say whether they are willing to be transferred to other jobs or to leave on voluntary redundancy but they are not being told where else they might work”

On Wednesday night Ms Goodman raised serious concerns in Parliament about the impact closure would have on staff, the local economy and 1.1million families whose CSA debt the team works on recovering.

In an adjournment debate, which was backed by North West Durham MP Pat Glass and Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson who both have constituents employed at Vinovium House, she said: “Child poverty is increasing under this Government, and further delays in Department for Work and Pensions systems for child support will undoubtedly tip some families over the edge.”

She challenged Caroline Nokes, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for welfare delivery, to do more to understand the impact of the proposed changes.

“I strongly suggest that the minister’s officials stop looking on Google Maps and that she send them up to the north to start looking at the geographical problems.

“Let them try to get a bus at 8 o’clock in the morning to Washington, near Sunderland, or to Newcastle, and get back in time to collect children from school at 3 o’clock.

“It is frankly impossible,” she said.

With 64 of the staff being women who work part-time and close to home so they can also care for children or parents, Ms Goodman also feels there has been no proper equality impact of the proposed closure.

And she said staff at Vinovium House have spent more than £4,000 in the town centre in the last two weeks so the shops and businesses would suffer and the Public and Commercial Services Union estimates £95,333 would be lost from the local economy if civil service jobs are taken form the town.

Mrs Nokes acknowledged that DWP staff are a 'valuable asset' and that the Bishop Auckland team is 'high performing'.

She added: “Closure of Vinovium House is still only a proposal at this stage and we are continuing the consultation process with our staff to assess how each might be affected.”

Ms Goodman said: “I cannot really tell what is going to happen.

“She was emphasising it was a proposal and though she was giving reasons why it is a good idea- which I really don’t think it is- as long as it is a proposal we are in with a chance.”