Thousands of civil servant jobs to leave London

Thousands of civilian servants are to beryllium moved retired of London nether plans to prevention wealth and displacement authorities jobs to offices crossed the country.

The authorities is aiming to chopped the fig of roles successful London by 12,000 and adjacent 11 offices successful the superior to prevention £94m a twelvemonth by 2032.

The changes volition spot 2 caller authorities campuses opened successful Manchester and Aberdeen, and roles created successful different towns and cities.

Unions welcomed proposals to relocate officials but said they wanted much details connected however civilian servants would beryllium impacted.

Cabinet Office curate Pat McFadden said the authorities wanted to determination decision-making "closer to communities each crossed the UK".

He said: "By relocating thousands of civilian work roles we volition not lone prevention taxpayers money, we volition marque this authorities 1 that amended reflects the state it serves."

Shadow Conservative Cabinet Office curate Alex Burghart said the plans showed Labour was "fundamentally unserious astir reducing the size of the authorities and moving much efficiently connected behalf of taxpayers".

He accused Labour of "shuffling things astir and making bare promises".

"Only the Conservatives are superior astir reducing the size of the authorities and making it enactment much efficiently for British taxpayers," helium said.

Government departments are being asked to taxable their plans for relocating staff, including elder civilian servants, arsenic portion of a spending review.

A authorities root told the BBC the nonstop fig of civilian servants relocated volition beryllium determined by the spending review, which is owed to beryllium completed successful June.

The Labour authorities has acceptable retired a fig of reforms to shrink the size of the civilian service, which ministers judge is bloated and inefficient.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to trim authorities moving costs by 15% by the extremity of the decade, and the Cabinet Office is looking to chopped 2,100 jobs successful its section implicit the adjacent 2 years.

The fig of civilian work unit has accrued considerably since 2016, with the headcount topping 514,000 astatine the extremity of past year, according to the Institute for Government.

Last year, a authorities root told the BBC much than 10,000 civilian servants jobs could beryllium chopped arsenic portion of Labour's propulsion for savings crossed each departments.

On Wednesday, the authorities volition outline plans to find 50% of UK-based elder civilian servants successful determination offices by 2030.

The authorities wants to make 3 caller determination campuses, 1 successful Manchester focused connected integer innovation and AI and a 2nd successful Aberdeen focused connected energy. The 3rd determination is yet to beryllium announced.

Manchester is already location to large offices of the subject and civilization departments, portion Aberdeen houses the caller Great British Energy headquarters.

Other roles volition beryllium created successful Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow, Darlington, Newcastle and Tyneside, Sheffield, Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast and York, with the changes expected to bring £729m to the section system by 2030.

Among the offices being closed successful London is 102 Petty France, 1 of the largest authorities offices successful the superior and location to astir 7,000 civilian servants successful the Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunal Service, Crown Prosecution Service and the Government Legal Department.

The Government volition besides adjacent 39 Victoria Street, which has been location to the Department of Health and Social Care since the extremity of 2017.

Prospect national wide caput Mike Clancy said hundreds of thousands of civilian servants already enactment extracurricular of London and welcomed plans to "empower" them.

But helium added: "We person been present earlier with akin announcements, if this 1 is to beryllium different, authorities needs to enactment intimately with unions some connected circumstantial relocation plans and connected the wider civilian work betterment agenda."

Dave Penman, wide caput of the FDA union, said civilian servants "need to beryllium capable to physique careers for the longer-term crossed the UK, including successful London wherever determination volition present beryllium less opportunities".

Penman said Wednesday's announcement meant "uncertainty" for "civil servants moving successful offices whose closures person been announced today" and the FDA looked guardant to seeing much detail.