MPs seek promises on future of 3,000 jobs at Telford factories

Mr Pritchard said a contract for Capgemini and Fujitsu, which have bases in Telford to supply IT equipment and software for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), was due to run out in 2017.

The Wrekin MP said reports had surfaced in the past six months suggesting the contract may not be renewed, raising fears jobs at the two firms could be at risk.

He said he had organised the meeting with Mr Gauke in a bid to allay those fears. Mr Pritchard will attend with Mrs Allan, the newly-elected Telford MP, and has also invited Kuldip Sahota and Keith Barrow, the leaders of Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council.

Capgemini, based at Stafford Park, supplies software for HMRC while Fujitsu provides hardware and design.

Mr Pritchard said: "I am very pleased to have secured this top level meeting with a key Treasury minister.

"HMRC is a major employer across the two Telford constituencies and the HMRC contract is vital to local jobs and the Shropshire economy. I made a commitment to fight to keep these jobs in Telford and I am delivering on that promise."

Mr Pritchard said it made sense to keep the existing agreements in place because they were working well.

"If you look at the national audit office report, it was full of praise for the services being delivered by local people in Telford," he said.

"The contract overall is both efficient and effective.

"Tax needs to be continued to be raised, and it needs to be collected, and somebody has to do it, and somebody has to do it somewhere.

"So I'll be saying why change something that is currently working well?

"The tax is being raised, its being raised well, its being raised efficiently.

"It's going to cost a huge amount of money to relocate to another area and start collecting through possibly another company or, dare I say it, moving it possibly to some other part of the world.

"My view is that tax has to be collected, its being collected well at the moment, Telford is the right place to do it and I'll be making the case for Telford along with Lucy Allan."

The MP refuted claims it was too early to be seeking reassurances on a contract that still had two years to run.

"If you don't ask you don't get," he said.

"My view is that if you leave it too late we would have looked back and said why didn't we do something earlier."

The meeting will take place on June 16.