Relocation, Relocation: Government Departments find new homes across the UK

February brought one of the most positive news stories of the year. The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, confirmed that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) planned to open a second HQ in Wolverhampton. This move will create ‘the first such ministerial office outside London with a regular ministerial presence.’ 

That’s not all. A second HQ for the Department for Transport is coming to Birmingham, with Leeds welcoming the DfT’s brand-new northern hub. By 2030, 22,000 Civil Service jobs will move outside of London. 

Here we’ll look at why these relocations are so beneficial to the whole of the UK. 

Demonstrating that government works for everyone

Everyone in the UK has a stake in the decisions that our government makes. It’s only right that those decisions are made in communities across the UK. 

Imagine if a multitude of decisions affecting London were suddenly made in Newcastle. Quite rightly, questions would follow about how well someone living in Newcastle could follow events in London. However, decisions impacting daily life in Newcastle get made in London every day. 

The gradual move of Departmental hubs and HQs outside of the capital seeks to dispel perceptions that public policy is made for London and then just applied to the rest of the UK. These initial relocations will place regions across the UK at the heart of decision-making on pivotal issues such as Housing and Transport. More portfolios will surely follow. 

Representing regional voices in public policy

So often, people living in cities up and down the UK can feel as though their opinions go unheard in public policy debates. With local residents taking many of the jobs that will move out of London, their voices will contribute directly to policy rather than just to debates about policy. 

Ministers will spend significant amounts of time living and working across these new offices. As a result, they will obtain invaluable insights about how the UK’s towns and cities need London to help them rebuild after the pandemic. 

The last year has brought so much pain to so many lives. Bringing the country together with policies that respond more effectively to local needs is key to the UK’s recovery from almost 18 months of continuous trauma. 

Creating new opportunities

Thousands of new public sector jobs are just a few of the opportunities that these relocations will create. Millions of pounds flow into regions when Civil Service teams move there. “The move of the 1,150 Met Office Roles to Exeter (in 2004) was estimated to add £65 million to local gross value added.” 

The new offices in the Midlands and Yorkshire will create exciting new opportunities for servicing and improving commercial spaces. They will also provide ambitious small businesses who service busy local workers with hundreds of new customers. Then there are the many local consulting firms who will be able to add their valuable contributions to the UK’s future. 

Over the next ten years, life in the UK will change significantly. It is hugely encouraging to see that great regions across the country will drive much of that change.