AN MP has taken the fight to prevent the loss of 83 civil servant jobs to the House of Commons

Helen Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland, has vowed to do all she can to protect the Child Support Agency staff at the town’s Vinovium House after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed the administration offices will be closing.

Speaking in the Commons this week, she asked Damian Hinds, minister for the DWP, how it was effective to propose closing an office in Bishop Auckland, which has one of the lowest costs for office rentals in the country.

He responded by saying that the move is part of an ongoing review – as the current overall contract for DWP office leases is coming to an end.

Mr Hinds said they were looking at the “entire DWP estate” and trying to consolidate space in order to run things more effectively but that they were trying to avoid making redundancies.

A campaign was launched last week by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union and a petition – change.org/p/uk-parliament-save-vinovium-house-bishop-auckland-dwp-office – has been gathering signatures ever since.

Backed by Ms Goodman and county councillor Joy Allen, the union is also planning a march through the town next month.

A consultation by the DWP with staff is underway and will run until Friday, March 31.

As part of the campaign, union representatives from PCS are encouraging staff to keep receipts of anything they spend in the area to show the impact it will have if they are forced out of town and in only two weeks the figures stands at about £4,000.

The 83 staff are made up of 69 women and 14 men and many of whom live in the town and surrounding areas. Many are concerned about transport and childcare if their jobs are moved

The DWP has said it is not their intention to make redundancies and discussions were ongoing with local landlords about the possibility of keeping an office in the town.

The proposal to close the CSA office comes as part of DWP’s plans to downsize its estate in order to save £180m over the next ten years.

In recent years, Bishop Auckland has seen the closure of its magistrates’ court, Driving Standards Agency centre and HMRC offices.

Vinovium House, which was completed in 1971, will see its long association with civil servants working in the town officially end in March 2018.

The decision to look to move the jobs comes at a time when improvements to the town are taking place, including work on a multi-million pound revamp of Auckland Castle, and the open air night show Kynren – An Epic Tale of England is preparing to return in the summer.