Town to bid for civil service jobs

A MINISTRY of Justice plan to move thousands of civil service jobs out of London offers a real opportunity to Warrington, Town Hall chiefs believe.
The MoJ plans to move 1,000 jobs out of the south-east, increasing to 2,500 posts by 2013 and is looking for suitable sites.
Warrington North MP Helen Jones says such a project could help kick-start development on the Omega development site and bring the kind of jobs the area needs – and council chiefs agree with her.
Council leader Ian Marks said: “A meeting has been arranged with both our MPs, the council leadership, senior officers and representatives of other organisations to discuss this issue. This does indeed provide a real opportunity for us to get things moving on Omega.”
Ms Jones has already written to Justice Secretary Jack Straw pressing Omega’s claims. He is already familiar with the Omega site having visited it last year with former Warrington South MP Mike Hall – now the MP for Weaver Vale – as part of the search for a suitable site for the ill-fated Titan Prison project.
But his announcement in the House of Commons yesterday (Monday) not only signalled the end of the Titan project but also specifically ruled-out Warrington as the location of any kind of new prison for the North West, strengthening hopes that Omega could be considered as a site for the Ministry of Justice.
Ms Jones said: “I understand from ministers that no decisions have yet been made and that they are open to bids from local authorities.
“I have already written to Jack Straw pointing out that Omega is an excellent site but we need to get all interested parties together to draw up a bid. It will not be easy because other local authorities are already lobbying for these jobs – but we need to try.
“It would bring construction jobs as the offices were built and secure jobs for local people in the future. I hope that all political parties in the town will join together to bid for these jobs.”
Pictured…Jack Straw – already familiar with Omega