CIVIL servants reeling from the loss of 300 pensions posts in York were today handed some early Christmas cheer.

City MP Hugh Bayley said that more than 100 posts will come to York when a new Government office is created to help people whose pension schemes go bust.

The £400 million Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) will be based at Monks Cross - home of the doomed York Pensions Centre.

However, union leaders today greeted the news with caution as they awaited more details on exact job numbers and whether management or administrative jobs would be created.

Mr Bayley, who met Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks in an attempt to bring new civil service jobs to York, said he hoped as many pensions service staff as possible could make the switch to FAS and avoid redundancy.

He said: "I went to see the Pension Service staff and union representatives when the Government said the Monks Cross office would close and I promised to press the Government to bring other civil service jobs to York and keep the office open.

"The staff faced terrible uncertainty when the closure was announced. Some have already left for other jobs.

"I still don't know exactly how many people the FAS will employ, but it will be more than 100, and I hope many of the remaining staff will be taken on by the new service."

Tanya Walker, regional chairman of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said 190 staff were left at the York pensions base.

She said they had been offered voluntary redundancy on compulsory terms and about one-third might accept.

She understood between 50 and 100 jobs would be created at the FAS. "If there are 50 we are still looking at 80 to 100 staff being made redundant, so we are not shouting from the rooftops yet."

Mr Bayley said the FAS administration unit will be based at Triune Court, the Monks Cross building used as the York office of the Pension Service.

It was due to close in March 2005. The loss of 320 jobs was announced this summer as part of a Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) efficiency drive. The jobs were created less than two years ago.

In the letter to Mr Bayley, the Pensions Minister said: "It is difficult to be specific about how many jobs will be available in the new unit, but my expectation is that there will be posts across a range of grades."

Mr Wicks said staff had been informed about the new office. Recruitment was expected to start next month.

Updated: 09:51 Thursday, December 09, 2004