Bringing jobs to York is one of the useful things an MP can do. While Labour was in power, between 1997 and 2010, 1,400 additional civil service jobs were transferred to York – bringing the total to just under 3,000.

We know the Government is cutting back, but I am doing all I can to reduce job losses in York.

Athena House, at Clifton Moor, was opened seven years ago as a cost-saving measure with the police and prosecutors working side by side to prepare cases for courts in York and Selby.

Before it opened cases were sometimes adjourned if, for example, the prosecutor turned up on a day when the arresting police officer was unavailable – giving evidence at another court perhaps.

When a case is adjourned it is inconvenient for the judge or magistrates, witnesses, victims, defendant, prison staff if the defendant is remanded in custody, lawyers for the prosecution and defence and everyone else involved with the case. It’s not just wasted time - wasted salaries and lawyers fees can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds.

The Government’s Law Officers, the Ministers in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service, have been told by the Treasury to cut costs, so they plan to transfer the 65 prosecutors at Athena House to another office, probably in Leeds.

The Prosecution Service may save money, but if they co-ordinate less well with the police it will lead to more adjourned cases so the police, the prison service and the court costs could rise – cancelling out the savings.

I have raised questions in the House of Commons with the Attorney General and the Solicitor General, the Justice Minister, who is in charge of the courts, and the Home Office, who are responsible for the police.

The Attorney General has now decided that the Crown Prosecution Service will “maintain a presence” in York.

I met with the Athena House staff and their trade union. I understand that 25 staff may stay in York, so why don’t they keep Athena House as a joint office for prosecutors and the police to do what it was set up to do – to save money by avoiding delays at court?

It’s not just public sector jobs that matter. When Labour was in power the overall number of jobs in York rose by 22,000 from 77,000 to 99,000.

There are things that MPs can do to attract investment by private employers.

When plans for York’s new community sports stadium were being made, I spoke to people on both sides of the argument about the impact on jobs.

If the development goes ahead, as I hope it will, it will create 1,000 jobs, mainly in retailing at the new John Lewis and Marks & Spencer stores.

It could lead to 500 fewer retail jobs in shops in the city centre.

The council, and city centre retailers will do all they can to keep job losses to the minimum, but a net gain of 500 jobs for York matters enormously at a time of rising unemployment.