§ 50. Mr. RathboneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussion he has had about relocating his Department's establishments and personnel from the south to the north of Britain.
§ Mr. RidleyAbout 56 per cent. of the Property Services Agency's non-industrial staff are already located outside the agency's London and south-east regions. The PSA is to be reorganised into three separate businesses between now and April 1990. I shall be considering relocation in the context of the future shape of the agency.
For the Department of the Environment, over one fifth of the staff are already outside London and the south-east. My aim is to relocate as many more of these as makes financial and operational sense. To that end, all areas of the Department's work were considered in the summer and some prima facie candidates for relocation identified. Detailed studies of costs and benefits are needed before firm decisions can be taken. These are in progress.