Revenue office closures confirmed

A total of 20 offices are to be closed across Scotland

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is to close a total of 20 offices at locations across Scotland.

Following a UK-wide review it has been confirmed sites including Ayr, Dumfries, Elgin, Greenock, Hawick, Falkirk, Oban, and Wick will shut.

The PCS union said the closures could mean 3,400 job losses across the UK, with about 400 going in Scotland.

Treasury financial secretary Stephen Timms said the move would address "new and challenging customer demands".

The PCS has described the action as "shortsighted".

The full list of 20 offices confirmed to close

The nine buildings retained after the review

It has claimed the closures would cost thousands of jobs across the UK and were "bad for business, the public and the tax payer".

However, Mr Timms said that the consultation process had ensured that "no relevant factors were overlooked during the decision-making process".

Opposition politicians in Scotland have criticised the decision to close the offices.

John Mason MP, SNP spokesperson for Work and Pensions, condemned the timing of the cuts.

He said: "As well as being a bitter blow to the HMRC workforce, these cuts will hit businesses and the public just when they need accessible and well-resourced services most.

"Rural areas are being disproportionately hit, and it is nothing short of an act of vandalism that, with the closure of offices in, for example, Peterhead and Elgin, valuable knowledge and expertise of the operation of the fishing and whisky industry is being thrown away."

The move was also greeted with disappointment by Roxburgh and Berwickshire Conservative MSP John Lamont.

"The news that tax offices in both Galashiels and Hawick are to close is terrible news for both towns," he said.

"I have been involved in the campaign to keep the Hawick office open and I am extremely disappointed that this decision has been taken.

"The loss of these jobs is the last thing that Hawick needs, at a time when the town is struggling to keep jobs in a number of other sectors."

Margaret Mitchell, Scottish Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, said the decision was "disappointing."

She said: "The loss of these jobs is the last thing that Falkirk, and many other places across Scotland, need at this time. My thoughts are with staff who have faced months of uncertainty, and now they have been hit with the worst news of all."

The following 20 HM Revenue and Customs offices have been confirmed for closure: