§ 28. Mr. Hooleyasked the Minister for the Civil Service what restrictions are 852 placed on the movement of individual civil servants who wish to transfer from London to the provinces on comparable work.
§ The Minister of State, Civil Service Department (Mr. Charles R. Morris)There are no service-wide restrictions, and Departments endeavour to meet all reasonable requests, having regard to the availability of replacement staff and the need to provide an effective service. In general, priority is given to cases where there is hardship or domestic or other distress.
§ Mr. HooleyI am obliged to my hon. Friend for that reply. As it is the policy of the Government to decentralise Civil Service activities from London to the provinces, what is the point of putting obstacles in the way of individuals who, for personal reasons, wish to go from London to, say, Sheffield?
§ Mr. MorrisMy hon. Friend has expressed an understandable point of view. People find difficulty in differentiating between the dispersal of Civil Service posts and the transfer of individual civil servants. The transfer of individual civil servants depends on the availability of posts at Sheffield and other provincial locations.