§ Mr. Matherasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will give details of all the announcements made since February 1974 on the dispersal of the Civil Service from London, following the Hardman Report; and which, if any, have been: (a) started, (b) are in the process or (c) have not started.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe Government's programme for the dispersal of some 31,000 civil service posts from
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Department Location Number of posts moved (at 1st October 1976) Civil Service Department … … … Sunningdale … 56 Basingstoke … 129 Export Credits Guarantee Department … … … Cardiff … 44 Foreign and Commonwealth Office … … … Merseyside … 10 Her Majesty's Customs and Excise … … … Southend … 35 Department of the Environment … … … Bristol … 32 Countryside Commission … … … Cheltenham … 100 (completed) COSIRA … … … Salisbury … 38 Department of Health and Social Security … … … Blackpool … 122 Newcastle … 19 Her Majesty's Stationery Office … … … Norwich … 5 Natural Environment Research Council … … … Swindon … 99 Office of Population Censuses and Surveys … … … Southport … 32 Science Research Council … … … Swindon … 135 Departments of Trade and Industry … … … Cardiff/Newport … 161 Companies Registration Office … … … Cardiff … 687 Total … 1,704 purpose and the total cost to public funds.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe information is as follows:
London, following the Hardman Report, was announced on 30th July 1974.—[Vol. 878, c. 482–94.] It was announced on 4th July 1975 that the location for the headquarters of the Manpower Services Commission, Training Services Agency and Employment Services Agency, whose location was not included in the earlier statement, would be at Sheffield.—[Vol. 894, c. 585.]
Planning is in process on all parts of the programme. The following moves are already in progress:
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§ Mr. Matherasked the Minister for the Civil Service (1) what capital expenditure will be incurred if the dispersal of civil servants, following the Hardman Report, takes place;
(2) what expenditure, other than capital expenditure, will be incurred if the dispersal of civil servants, following the Hardman Report, takes place.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisTotal capital expenditure in the period up to 1984–85, when the dispersal programme announced in July 1974 is due to be completed, is estimated at about £158 million, and expenditure other than capital expenditure at about £142 million. Taking account of associated savings on London rent and rates and London weighting payments to staff, net costs over the same period are estimated at £57 million. Clear annual savings of at least £50 million are expected from 1985–86 onward—all figures at 1976 prices.
§ Mr. Matherasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many civil servants will have to be recruited to deal with the problems associated with the dispersal of civil servants, following the Hardman Report.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe Hardman Report suggested that dispersal might entail a long-term net increase in staff of an average of 30 posts for every 1,000 dispersed, with an additional 30 in the short term, and recent estimates have not caused these average figures to be revised. It is not known how many of these staff, if any, will need to be recruited rather than deployed from other work.
§ Mr. Matherasked the Minister for the Civil Service how much the cost of dispersing civil servants from London has increased since Sir Henry Hardman published his report.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisBoth the Hardman Report and subsequent estimates show that the dispersal of Civil Service posts from London will result in an overall financial gain. The Hardman Report estimated that clear net savings of £9 million would occur by 1983 and rise to £25 million annually, on the assumption that the moves would be spread evenly throughout the imple-852W mentation period. Under current plans clear net savings will occur in 1986, rising from £45 million in that year to £56 million annually—1976 prices.