Government considers relocating thousands of civil servants
As many as 60,000 civil service jobs could be moved out of London and the South East over the next 20 years.
Ministers are planning to transfer public sector jobs from Whitehall in a bid to help regenerate the regions.
The proposals, reportedly backed by chancellor Gordon Brown, could lead to savings of billions of pounds.
The blueprint for the reforms will be outlined next week by Sir Michael Lyons, director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at Birmingham University.
Sir Michael’s report was commissioned by the chancellor last year. Mr Brown initially planned to relocate around 20,000 jobs to the regions. However, Sir Michael is believed to be recommending that as many as 60,000 jobs could move over the next 20 years.
The report is expected to be fiercely opposed by both civil service unions and senior Whitehall officials.
Experts predict that the Treasury, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Work and Pensions are most likely to be put forward to move employees out of London.
Sir Michael has called for a “wholesale change” in attitude from ministers and senior civil servants towards the plans.
The Lyons report comes just ahead of the chancellor’s annual budget and in the wake of concern over spiralling public sector debt. Office costs are 30 per cent lower outside London.
Leaks of a wider survey by Sir Peter Gershon, head of the government’s efficiency review, revealed that he recommended the decentralisation of up to 80,000 civil servants – around one in five.
The treasury has refused to comment on the conclusions of the Lyons Report, which is published on Monday.
Both the Liberal Democrats and the Tories have proposed cuts in civil service expenditure as part of their spending plans in the run up to next year’s elections. The Liberal Democrats have gone so far as to suggest moving the Treasury to Liverpool.
