ONE of Irvine’s MSPs has claimed that plans to close the town’s HM Revenue & Customs office are being hidden from the public.

Cunninghame South MSP Margaret Burgess is demanding transparency as she claims that HMRC has begun consulting on the closure of its Marress House base in Irvine and also in Glenrothes.

These are part of apparent plans to close 12 offices across the UK as part of cuts to staff and facilities.

However, the SNP politician claims that only staff, trade unions and elected representatives have been asked for their views instead of consulting members of the public.

Irvine’s HMRC office was saved from closure in 2008 but Mrs Burgess claims that it has become the subject of plans to close in December 2015.

Mrs Burgess, whose Cunninghame South constituency includes Irvine’s HMRC office, said: “Recent years have already seen hundreds of staff bear the brunt of cuts to HMRC services and this latest round of closures will only do further damage.

“It represents a particularly bitter blow for staff at the Irvine office after extensive campaigning previously saved the office from the axe in 2008.

“Each of these closures only increases the strain on the already over-stretched HMRC and the quality of the service being provided to people can only suffer as a result. It also makes it far more difficult for those who are not set up to use HMRC services online or by phone to access the help they need.

“This is a significant change that is being proposed and it is simply not acceptable for the public to be cut out of these consultation plans.

“The public deserve to have their say about how the loss of these offices will affect them and I would strongly encourage HMRC and the Westminster Government to be far more transparent with people in Scotland.” Margaret Burgess is not the only Irvine politician to have raised the issue in the past.

In 2012, local Labour MP Brian Donohoe hit out at HMRC bosses over the proposed closure of Marress House, believing its closure would mean there would be no tax office between Glasgow and Carlisle.

However, the tax chiefs hit back at the Central Ayrshire MP’s claims, recognising that there would still keep their office in Ayr.

A spokesperson from HMRC said: “The increasing automation of clerical processes means that there is now much less manual process work than there used to be.

"This is part of a long-term trend to ensure that HMRC's workforce and estate fits the needs of the business, and that the UK’s tax system is managed cost effectively.”