On Saturday I attended the rally against the closure of the Sheffield BIS Office and told protesters that I will increase pressure on the Government in Parliament this week.  

I have been coordinating efforts in Parliament to oppose the Government’s decision to close the St Paul’s Place Office of the Business, Innovation and Skills Department in my constituency. So far MPs have challenged Ministers in the House of Commons and challenged the Department’s most senior civil servant, Permanent Secretary Martin Donnelly, in the Business Innovation and Skills Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.

At the rally, I said: 

It is simply unacceptable for Ministers and top managers to refuse to make the business case for this closure. This is the Business Department, after all! This is no way to make decisions. We will not let this lie. We’ll step up the pressure to save the BIS Office next week.

The decision to close the Sheffield BIS Office is bad for Sheffield and it’s bad for the country. It will cost more money, weaken policy-making and make a mockery of the Government’s Northern Powerhouse rhetoric. The decision is already unravelling. Ministers and the Department’s most senior civil servant have consistently failed to provide a business case for the decision in Parliament. I will be taking this to the next level in Parliament this week.