§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made of the number of civil servants in his Department who could be relocated to provincial centres as part of the policy of devolving and decentralising Government Departments.
§ Mr. MellorIt is the Government's policy to relocate Government offices outside London in those cases where it is possible and appropriate to do so, taking into account such factors as effectiveness, efficiency, value for money and accessibility of the site. Of the approximately 1,000 civil servants in the Department of National Heritage, 397 are appropriately located in the Historic Royal Palaces Agency at Hampton Court Palace and other royal palaces, 168 are members of the Royal Parks constabulary and 40 are royal parks staff also appropriately located on site in the royal parks. The remaining 360 senior officials and other policy staff form the central core of DNH. A variety of options for rehousing them are currently under consideration and I shall be making a statement in due course.