§ Mr. CranTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress Departments have made under the Government's relocation policy.
§ Mr. Peter BrookeI informed the House on 31 March 1988 (columns610–11) that following the virtual completion of the Civil Service dispersal programme announced in 1979 the Government would set no further central targets for relocation but Departments would be reviewing their location of work with a view in suitable cases to finding locations offering advantages in terms of recruitment and retention of staff, value-for-money and other considerations relevant to service delivery and management. I placed a copy of the guidelines for these reviews in the Library of the House.
In an Adjournment debate on 9 May 1988 I explained at column 128 that these guidelines link departmental reviews of location to the scrutiny of running costs in the annual public expenditure survey so that Departments can report each year to the Treasury on their review plans and progress.
Departmental reports to the Treasury during the 1988 public expenditure survey confirm that most large Departments now have serious and substantial reviews in hand and that the remainder are making the necessary preparations. Over 34,000 Civil Service posts are being reviewed for location or relocation away from London and the south-east, representing more than 15 per cent. of all posts in that region. Many of these reviews are still at the earliest stage and no overall estimates of the future scale of movement can be given. Successful relocations need careful planning and preparation, and I should emphasise that not all the posts now under review will move. Departmental Ministers will announce their decisions once the essential processes of assessment, consultation and decision for each review have been completed.
Ministers are firm in their intention to ensure that the locations of their Departments' activities are thoroughly reviewed and appreciate the potential advantages to 752W departmental management as well as the benefits for regional and urban policy of relocating work outside London and the south-east in all suitable cases. No further central targets for relocation or dispersal are being set, but the Government are confident that the present review process will in the coming years add very significantly to the 12,000 posts located or relocated outside London and the south-east between 1979 and 1987. Since 1987 departmental Ministers have announced new relocation decisions totalling some 3,000 posts, including over 1,000 DSS posts to Glasgow, Belfast and Wigan, and 850 Patent Office posts to Newport. Further announcements can be expected in due course as individual reviews are completed and departmental Ministers take their decisions.