Hanley DWP redundancy offers 'delayed by Queen's death'

A note to staff at the DWP site stated the monarch's death as the reason for delays in redundancy offers, the union said

More than 150 employees at a closing-down government office were told redundancy offers had been delayed after the Queen's death, a union said.

The closure of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) site in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, was announced in March.

Staff were told on Wednesday they would have to wait three more weeks for their offers, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said.

The DWP said the redundancy process has been paused while the Queen is mourned.

Affected staff have been offered support, they added.

The union said the note to the 155 call centre staff clearly stated the monarch's death was the reason for the delay.

Mark Page, from PCS, said: "They don't really see how the unfortunate death of the Queen plays into a situation around their redundancy - it doesn't really make any sense to them.

"They're really frustrated because it's difficult for them to plan for the future without having their redundancy package on the table."

The members are to be given their financial offer in October.

The Hanley office is expected to close at the end of January. The government previously said there would be a move to better offices to increase overall employment.