§ 38. Mr. CarringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress has been made in relocating his Department's staff away from the London area.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 14 November 1989 to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Mr. Riddick) at column170, in which my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State announced that a substantial amount of the Department's work in London was to be relocated to Leeds. A site for the new headquarters building in Leeds has been identified, and we hope that building work will commence by the end of this year. We expect that the relocation of posts from London will begin around the end of 1991 or early 1992.