§ Lord Sefton of Garstonasked Her Majesty's Government:
When deciding on the relocation of the staff from Marsham Street, if they will consider regions outside the South East, and if so which other regions will be considered.
§ Lord StrathclydeFollowing the decision to demolish 2 Marsham Street, the then Secretary of State for the Environment announced on 6th February that he had asked his officials to draw up proposals for moving a substantial number of his department's HQ posts away from central Westminster to another London location, possibly Docklands. This work is continuing, and the present Secretary of State has decided that the Docklands option should be pursued further.
The prospect of moving further posts out of London has not been ruled out and the options will be kept under review in accordance with the Government's relocation guidelines. In view of the substantial number of DoE posts which have already been dispersed to other parts of the country, however, it is likely that the opportunity for further such relocations will remain limited.