HC Deb 06 November 1989 vol 159 cc418-9W
Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in theOfficial Report details of those sections of his Department which have been relocated in the last five years, indicating the sites to which they have been moved; whether consideration is being given to future relocation of London-based sections of his Department to sites outside London; and whether the central Borders of Scotland has been identified as a suitable area for any future moves.

Mr. Maude

The diplomatic wing has not relocated any jobs in the last five years, but some 250 jobs, (mainly in administration departments) have been identified for relocation from central London to the FCO estate at Hanslope park near Milton Keynes by 1995.

In the aid wing, 18 jobs have been relocated to the East Kilbride office in the last five years following the relocation of 427 jobs there in 1981; and some 390 jobs from the Overseas Development Natural Resources Institute are being relocated from London and the Thames Valley to Chatham between 1988 and 1990, most of which have already been transferred. In addition, about 100 further aid wing jobs will move from London, mostly to East Kilbride. The exact number of jobs and timing have yet to be decided.