Thousands of government jobs have relocated to the North-west

The Cabinet Office has revealed that more than 11,000 government jobs been relocated from London to sites around the UK, including over 2,000 in the North-west.

Under the Places for Growth programme, the North-west has seen the most jobs transferred out of the capital, with 2,100 civil servants now working in Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Sefton. Yorkshire has also seen a boost with 1,800 jobs created in Sheffield and Leeds.

Around eight out of ten roles relocated under the programme have been filled by local people, rather than by staff relocating to other parts of the country. Government modelling expects that the programme will provide an economic boost of between £260 million to £1.4 billion in total across the country.

In Greater Manchester, both the Cabinet Office and Home Office have moved around 450 jobs to the city-region so far. Latest relocation studies suggest a local economic benefit of £30 million per 1,000 government jobs relocated, which suggests the moves to Greater Manchester could generate more than £60 million in economic benefits to the city-region and wider North-west of England.

Minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin visited the site of a new Hub in Manchester which is set to be completed by 2025; he said:

“The programme to move government roles out of London is a key part of the plan to deliver on the Prime Minister’s top priorities, particularly when it comes to growing the economy across the whole UK.

“By putting local voices at the heart of policy-making, we’re also moving power out of Westminster and into the hands of communities.

“I am so pleased to be in Manchester today as we kick off construction on the new First Street Government Hub, which will enable hundreds of jobs to move to Manchester and bring millions of pounds to the local economy.”

The Places for Growth programme has committed to moving 22,000 roles out of London by 2030. Its core aim is to utilise the vast talent pool spread across the UK, whilst ensuring that the civil service is reflective of the communities it serves.

The 11,168 roles relocated so far mean that over half of this target has been met in less than three years, with further roles set to move in the near future.

These include 700 roles which will move to the Manchester First Street Hub, a c12,000 square metre development which will open in 2025 to provide a new home for civil servants currently based in Manchester, in addition to staff relocated from London.

Once complete the site will be one of the largest for cross-government collaboration outside London, providing office accommodation and different types of areas for people to work and collaborate, as well as enabling efficiencies through digitally-enabled office space.