§ Mrs. Margaret EwingTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list in theOfficial Report the total 539W number of Civil Service jobs in central Government Departments which have been (a) created in and (b) transferred to Scotland in each of the past 10 years;
(2) if he will list in the Official Report current plans to decentralise Government Departments to Scotland.
§ Mr. Brooke[holding answers 11 November 1988]Under the Government's 1979 programme a total of 2,050 posts are to be dispersed to Scotland. Some 1,930 posts have already been dispersed, and the remainder are due in the first half of 1989. Approximately 70 per cent. of these posts have been filled by local recruitment. The annual figures are:
Created posts Transferred posts Total 1979 — — — 1980 — — — 1981 32 395 427 1982 — 167 167 1983 — 188 188 1984 — 75 75 1985 — 1,070 1,070 1986 — — — 1987 — — — Totals 32 1,895 1,927 Details of posts created or transferred outside this programme and at Departments' own initiative are not held centrally, but Inland Revenue opened a new office in Cumbernauld in 1987 (32 posts) and earlier this year the Department of Social Security opened a new housing benefit unit in Glasgow which has created over 400 short-term jobs for school leavers who might otherwise have been unable to find work. In addition Inland Revenue expect to disperse a further small number of London posts to Glasgow in the first half of 1989.
Under the successor policy to the Government's dispersal programme which I announced on 31 March at columns 610–11, the onus is now on Departments to review the location of their work regularly and systematically with a view to finding locations offering advantages in terms of recruitment and retention of staff and better value for money. No areas of the country have been identified specifically as target location venues, but, where appropriate, Departments will take account of the Government's regional and urban policies when selecting the most appropriate location to suit their particular requirements.
The report published by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland in June confirmed the significant financial and other benefits achieved through the relocation of part of the Overseas Development Administration to East Kilbride in 1981, and this should encourage Departments to give Scottish venues due consideration when planning future relocations.