§ Mr. John Evansasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many Civil Service jobs have been dispersed, under the policy of decentralisation of central Government functions, to Scotland, Wales, and each of the eight English regions which are served by regional economic planning councils in each year since the scheme began; and what are the projected figures for each of the next five years.
§ Mr. Charles R. Morris, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 3rd February 1975; Vol. 885, c. 398–9], gave the following information:
The first co-ordinated Civil Service dispersal initiative in peace-time began in May 1963 following the Flemming Report. Records of posts dispersed from London date from that time but they were not maintained on a yearly basis until October 1969. Information about dispersal from London in the period May 1963 to 30th September 1969 and each year subsequent to 30th September 1969 is given below. The posts shown as planned for dispersal include those to be dispersed from London as a result of the decisions announced by the Lord President on 30th July 1974. It is not possible to give projected figures for each of the next five years, but the programme is planned for completion over a 10-year period. The figures do not include posts set up in new organisations established outside London under Government location policies.
117W118W
NUMBER OF POSTS Scotland Wales Northern Region Yorkshire and Humberside North West East Midlands West Midlands East Anglia South East South West Totals Period May 1963 to 30th September 1969 2,024 787 2,133 256 1,789 50 238 1,192 5,371 328 14,168* Years ended 30th September: 1970 … … … … … 1,630 165 797 85 988 — 3 — 486 42 4,196 1971 … … … … … 830 219 141 205 967 76 9 — 133 149 2,729 1972 … … … … … 200 460 41 237 355 — 29 — 232 173 1,727 1973 … … … … … 169 185 59 246 4 — — — 326 204 1,193 1974 … … … … … 709 363 34 76 — — — 17 232 158 1,589 Total … … … … 5,562 2,179 3,205 1,105 4,103 126 279 1,209 6,780 1,054 25,602 Total posts planned to be dispersed as at 1st October 1974 … … … 8,890 7,492 3,860 — 4,640 50 — 783 1,945 1,900 29,560† Grand Total … … … … 14,452 9,671 7,065 1,105 8,743 176 279 1,992 8,725 2,954 55,162 * Figures prior to 30th September 1969 exclude the Post Office which is now a Public Corporation but include the Department for National Savings. † This total does not include the Manpower Services Commission, the Health and Safety Commission and the Inland Revenue on which decisions were deferred at the time of the Lord President's announcement last year; nor the 1,000 posts in the Property Services Agency to be dispersed from London to regional offices but whose precise distribution among these offices has not been decided.