SNP MSP Keith Brown has written to the Chief Executive of the Nationwide Building Society after staff at the Dunfermline Building Society received warnings of job losses.
The redundancies came to light when Mr Brown, MSP for Ochil, was contacted by constituents employed by the Dunfermline.
SNP MSP Keith Brown has written to the Chief Executive of the Nationwide Building Society after staff at the Dunfermline Building Society received warnings of job losses.
The redundancies came to light when Mr Brown, MSP for Ochil, was contacted by constituents employed by the Dunfermline.
Mr Brown said:
“My constituent and his colleagues were shocked to be told that they face redundancy in the next few weeks. Particularly since they were given the impression by the previous Labour government there would be no compulsory redundancies at Dunfermline over the following three years.
“It is vitally important that Nationwide clarify this matter as soon as possible along with the disappointing news that the Dunfermline will no longer sell customers its own mortgages.
“Claiming there are new jobs available raises real questions about why anyone is being issued with compulsory redundancy – and Nationwide’s weak excuse that they only promised on branch redundancies will leave staff cold.
“Nationwide was given Dunfermline on a plate and now seem determined to run it down. They owe the staff and Dunfermline’s customers a far better deal.
The SNP MP has said he will now be working with his SNP colleagues at Westminster to seek further guarantees for the Dunfermline staff in Scotland.
There was outrage in Scotland last March when The Dunfermline was forced out of business by the UK Treasury and had its branches taken over by the Nationwide Building Society. The Bank of England had used new powers under the Banking Act to rush through the deal.
Former Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy had stated that “reckless loans” and “involvement of Sub Prime mortgage market in the US” had contributed to the Building Societies downfall. However it transpired that Mr Murphy’s Sub Prime claims were untrue after an independent report carried out by auditors KPMG confirmed no such liabilities were on the company’s books.
The forced sell off led to its former chairman Jim Faulds launching a scathing attack on UK government bodies, accusing them of being ‘secretive’ and ‘unhelpful’.
Mr Faulds had claimed that a proposed Scottish Government £25m deal to save the society would have worked and added “Perhaps they’ve, frankly, taken the huff because we went to the Scottish Government in utter frustration at London’s inability and unwillingness to help us.”
Jim Faulds on The Politics Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR3SICn4Z58{/youtube}
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