HC Deb 04 May 1988 vol 132 cc485-6W
Mr. Robert Banks

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Government Departments and agencies have been transferred from London and the south-east of England to the regions since 1979.

Mr. Brooke

The Government's dispersal programme since 1979 has included significant transfers of Civil Service posts from London to regions outside the south-east, by the following Departments and agencies:

  • Export Credits Guarantee Department (to Cardiff)
  • Health and Safety Executive (to Bootle)
  • Her Majesty's Stationery Office (to Norwich)
  • Home Office (to Bootle)

investments and showing the tax and national insurance position and the resultant net income for couples over the same range of incomes after the introduction of independent taxation in 1990.

Mr. Norman Lamont

Illustrative examples of the effects of independent taxation for non-aged taxpayers at various levels of income up to £2,000 per week are given in the tables. They are based on income tax and national insurance contribution rates for 1988–89. The tables include two illustrations of the possible distribution of the amount of income between husband and wife.

  • Manpower Services Commission (to Sheffield)
  • Ministry of Defence (to Glasgow)
  • Overseas Development Administration (to East Kilbride)
  • Property Services Agency (to Bootle)

Details of dispersals undertaken on Departments' own initiatives are not held centrally. However, Her Majesty's Land Registry opened a new office in Hull in 1987; the Department of Trade and Industry recently announced plans to relocate the Patent Office to Newport; and the Department of Health and Social Security has created a large number of new jobs at its Newcastle central office and at its family credit centre at North Fylde.