Public and Commercial Services Union

The PCS Land Registry group executive committee are asking all PCS members to write to their local Member of Parliament (MP) about the campaign against job cuts, office closures and privatisation.

Letter writing to MPs is a key part of our campaign and fits into a wider programme of activities to raise awareness and build support amongst the public and key decision-makers.

It is better to write your own personal letter than a standard or model letter as it shows the strength of feeling you have about the campaign. Relaying personal experiences about the campaign to your elected representative will help to illustrate the key issues persuasively.

If you intend to write your own letter you may wish to:

• Introduce yourself and say where you live and work.
• Clearly and simply explain about the campaign. Your MP may be unaware of the issues involved.
• If you can, give examples of how you are personally affected and how your workplace is affected.
• Be specific about what you would like your MP to do (i.e. support the campaign demands and raise these issues with the Minister, ask questions in Parliament and ask the Minister to look for alternatives to the current proposals).
• Ask your MP to keep in regular contact with you and to give you copies of any responses they receive from other MPs or the Secretary of State.

We have included a model letter below so that you can get an idea of the layout. You may want to use it to send to your MP if you do not have time to write your own personal letter.

Identifying and Contacting Your MP

• If you do not know who your MP is then your local union rep can advise you on the correct person to contact.
• If you have access to the internet, you can find out via the find your MP service.
• It is easy to send faxes electronically to your MP via faxyourmp.com
• If you have any problems trying to find your MP then please contact the Campaigns and Communications Unit at PCS HQ on: Tel: 020 7801 2820

The best way to contact your MP is to write to them at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.  All MPs have Westminster offices and will make arrangements for their mail to be dealt with or redirected when they are away from London.

You can telephone your MP’s office at the House of Commons by telephoning the switchboard (Tel: 020 7219 3000) and asking to be connected to the MP’s office.

Most MPs can be contacted by email, and their office or the House of Commons Information Office can give the details.

Letters and faxes are still more likely to be read and responded to than emails.

---

Model letter

[Insert your address]

[Insert name of your MP]
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

[Insert date]

Dear [Insert name of your MP]

Land Registry cuts

I am writing to you as a constituent and as a Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union member employed by HM Land Registry.

PCS members in the Land Registry are currently opposing proposals to cut 1,500 staff and close 5 offices under the Land Registry’s ”Accelerated Transformation Programme”.

The Land Registry’s work is closely bound up with the housing and property market. One of the arguments used to justify these cuts is the downturn in this market. Yet shedding a highly skilled Civil Service labour force due to temporary changes in the market is extremely bad financial and economic practice: Land Registry work is highly skilled and technical work, and the stability of the property market and land ownership with its transactions rests upon Land Registry and its workforce, which has already been severely cut to the bone, with 1800 job losses since 2008, a total of 21% of the labour force.

Politicians and the Labour government all claim there has been a surge of confidence in the property market in recent months. Upon the recovery of the market, this will mean staff who have been made redundant would then need to be replaced, a fact acknowledged by Land Registry management who intend to recruit new personnel off the street, at the same time as closing offices and making experienced staff redundant.

You will already have seen a similar scenario in the Department of Work and Pensions, which has made 8,479 staff redundant but also recruited 16,554 staff over the same four-year period - this represents a massive loss and a colossal waste to the public purse. This practice is also inefficient, as inexperenced staff are struggling to meet the demands of rapidly rising unemployment.

I am not against finding new ways to improve the service we deliver but believe that the latest Land Registry proposals will do nothing to make the Land Registry more efficient. Previous experience in the Civil Service quite clearly shows that outsourcing and market testing does not represent value for money to the taxpayer and that office closures and job cuts are not in the best public interest. We fear that the quality of service that will be offered to the public would be sacrificed in the interests of greater profits for private sector shareholders.

The process of Land Registration is far too important to be done on the cheap: Earlier this year you may have seen media coverage which has demonstrated the Land Registration process is already too open to fraud. It therefore cannot be in the public interest to continue to downsize the Land Registry, outsourcing vital elements to the private sector, and for remaining staff to have to cope with the extra pressure. Resources are also needed to address the fact that over 30% of land in England and Wales is still unregistered, even after 150 years of land registration.

My union will shortly be publishing an ‘Alternative Vision’ document, which makes a case for a properly resourced Land Registry, remaining in the public sector and focussed on completing the land register. A completed register would underpin the property market and assist government with any planning related to the use of land. I would urge you to read this document and to consider the alternative way forward that is proposed for Land Registry.

I would be interested to hear your views and find out what support you are able to offer to our campaign. I would be grateful if you could raise my concerns with the Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw MP and the Minister with responsibility for Land Registry Michael Wills MP. Please also consider signing EDM 201 “Land Registry office closures”.

If you require further information on these concerns, please do not hesitate to contact [insert details of PCS full time officer, branch chair or other appropriate person who is clear on the issues].

Yours sincerely